After 25 years ‘one country, two systems’ is a universally recognized success: John Lee

The practice of the "one country, two systems" principle is universally recognized as successful, providing the best guarantee for Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability. Only when there's stability, the city can see further development, John Lee Ka-chiu, the newly appointed sixth-term chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said in a latest article.

In the article entitled Our 25 years published in the local newspaper Wei Wen Po, Lee looked back at his experiences of working in local authorities for years, saying that the past 25-year-experience of Hong Kong showed that the "one country, two systems" is universally considered a success. Over the past three years, Hong Kong has overcome many difficulties and established a governance defined by patriots administering the city, preparing to apply a new electoral system in the five years, when the city will also transform from being well governed to being prosperous.

Lee had worked in the Hong Kong Police Force for 35 years before he joined the Security Bureau when he witnessed a number of illegal activities such as the "Occupy Central" movement, the Mong Kok riot and the social turmoil in 2019 with the escalating rioting activities.

With the external forces which helped fuel the flames, the city had been engulfed in collapse, the article said. All these anti-government movements, disguised as "protests," aimed at hindering the HKSAR government to roll out policies, at rejecting the mainland and at resisting the "one country" principle in the name of "two systems." A large number of innocent residents were attacked with Molotov cocktails everywhere and infrastructure was heavily damaged, Lee said.

Thanks to a series of measures taken by the central government, as the national security law was implemented on June 30, 2020 and the electoral reform was implemented in 2021, the city got back on the right track of the "one country, two systems," very soon changing from social turmoil to stability, he noted.

"If there's no national security, there's no prosperity and stability," Lee emphasized in the article, noting that only when the city enjoys a safe and secure environment, it can see its economy develop, ensuring the "one country, two systems" will be carried on in the long term.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, signaling an important landmark and the turning of a new page for the city. The past 25-year experience fully demonstrated that the "one country, two systems" is a universally recognized successful practice, providing the best guarantee for the HKSAR's long-term stability and prosperity, Lee said.

Lee was elected with 99.16 percent of the supportive votes on May 8, which was the first election for CE since the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong and the electoral reforms that brought about the principle of "only patriots administering Hong Kong." He will assume office on July 1, 2022.

Lee vowed to enhance the status of Hong Kong as the center of international finance, trade, shipping, international laws and disputes consultation in the Asia Pacific region, while exploring new opportunities to enhance the city's competitiveness, according to the article. In the future, the city aims to develop as a center of global innovation and airlines, cultural exchanges as well as intellectual property rights trading. Meanwhile, the city has to seize the opportunities of integrating into the country's overall development plan and connecting the world in order to ensure its status as an international city.