‘Free and pluralistic’: former leader Leung Chun-ying says people in Hong Kong can express different views, pursue personal interests

Hong Kong’s third chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, shares his thoughts on the city’s uniqueness and its relationship with mainland China.

Twenty-five years after the handover, has “one country” overshadowed “two systems”? Has Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy been undermined?

No to both questions. Anyone who says otherwise has to point to the articles in the Basic Law. Hong Kong’s two systems and its relationship with central authorities, including its high degree of autonomy, are not abstract concepts. They are all spelled out in the Basic Law which was promulgated 32 years ago. Critics have to be specific.

Has Hong Kong become too reliant on the mainland in the light of cross-border economic integration? Can Hong Kong develop its economic ties with the mainland in a mutually beneficial way?

Hong Kong has benefited immensely from its economic relationships with the mainland. The reverse is also very true. The two economies offer each other very considerable synergies. There are many new sectors which we should develop such as broader financial services, offshore trade services, international maritime services and science and technology, again to the mutual benefits of the two sides.

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Hong Kong by the numbers, 25 years after the handover

Hong Kong by the numbers, 25 years after the handover

What is it that makes Hong Kong unique? Is there a danger it will become just another Chinese city?

Hong Kong has many unique strengths compared to mainland cities. One of them is the long tradition of international connections which have been accumulated in our long history as a free trade port, with our extensive personal relationships, languages, rule of law, freely convertible currency and trust in the international community.