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Tony Cheung

Hong Kong’s leader shrugged off a suggestion she was travelling to Beijing to make a pitch for her possible re-election bid, just hours before she was to fly to the Chinese capital for her annual duty visit on Monday.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said that in her discussions with state leaders she would focus on Hong Kong’s further integration with mainland China and reopening the border for quarantine-free travel.
“This year, there has been the pandemic, so I will reflect to the leaders that Hong Kong residents very much hope that the city’s border with the mainland can reopen soon,” she said.

The Chief Executive’s Office confirmed Lam would be in the capital until Thursday. She is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.
The trip comes on the heels of Sunday’s Legislative Council election, which Beijing followed up with a white paper on Hong Kong’s democratic development.
It is customary for the chief executive to visit Beijing in December to brief the country’s leaders on the city’s political and economic developments of the past year.
Lam’s trip was postponed last year because Hong Kong was battling a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, with the daily caseload sometimes exceeding 100 a day. She instead took part in a virtual meeting with Xi and Li on January 27.
Lam told a press conference she was glad she could travel to Beijing in person this time.
“My annual duty trip is to give a full account to the leaders on the latest situation in Hong Kong, in terms of the political situation, economic situation as well as the social situation. I expect to cover a wide range of issues on this particular duty visit,” she said.
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According to a source, Lam will fly from Shenzhen to Beijing on Monday night and is expected to stay in her hotel until she meets Li on Wednesday morning, followed by talks with Xi in the afternoon and then a press briefing.
The presentation of her annual report card to state leaders will take place barely three months ahead of the chief executive poll on March 27, and Lam has not yet indicated whether she intends to seek a second term. When asked whether the question of her re-election would come up in the talks, she said: “I am going to Beijing for my duty visit; I won’t do anything apart from that.”
Lam was also asked whether she would explain to state leaders her plan to revive long-shelved national security legislation that Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, required Hong Kong to pass. The legislation is separate from the national security law that Beijing imposed in June of last year.
She said that although her administration was preparing for the legislation, it would not be a highlight of the visit.
“I will cover … my 2021 policy address which lays out blueprints for Hong Kong to resolve the housing and land problem, and the economic problem. Particularly, this year is the first year of the 14th five-year plan, and I should also take this opportunity to thank the central authorities, on behalf of Hong Kong, for the strong support given to Hong Kong,” she said.
Lam was referring to the central government’s five-year plan, officially adopted in March, under which Beijing vowed to support the city in reinforcing its status as a global centre for finance, transport, trade and legal services.
Carrie Lam headed to Beijing for annual duty visit on day after Hong Kong election
The leadership also pledged to encourage Hong Kong’s development in other ways, such as becoming an international aviation and technological hub and centre for arts and cultural exchange.
Lam said she would also report on the preparatory work her administration had carried out for the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on July 1 next year.
Her husband Lam Siu-por was expected to travel with her but pandemic considerations could put that plan on hold. When her predecessor Leung Chun-ying made the final duty visit of his five-year term in 2016, his wife Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee accompanied him.


Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, said he expected Lam to brief state leaders on the Legco election and how the national security law was being enforced.
Polytechnic University political scientist Chan Wai-keung said that even though the chief executive might not raise the issue of re-election during the visit, Xi would almost certainly be considering the matter.
“As this is the final duty visit of her five-year term, Chinese leaders would be thinking of who should lead Hong Kong in the next five years,” he said. “So what she did in the past year, together with the duty visit, would be important elements in Xi’s assessment.”
Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu will be acting chief executive during Lam’s absence.


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Chief Executive Carrie Lam meets the press at government headquarters in Tamar on Monday. Photo: May Tse

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam meets President Xi Jinping in Beijing on December 16, 2019. Photo: Handout 

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam at a media conference after the Legislative Council election. Photo: May Tse

News

Hong Kong

Politics


Lam is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in the capital later this week
She stresses she will focus on updating leaders about Hong Kong’s economic and political developments



Lam stresses she will focus on updating leaders about Hong Kong’s economic and political developments during visit, during which she is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.


Carrie Lam policy address 2021

Hong Kong Legislative Council election 2021

Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

Xi Jinping

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam insists duty visit to Beijing not about any possible re-election bid

Lam is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in the capital later this week She stresses she will focus on updating leaders about Hong Kong’s economic and political developments

Lam is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in the capital later this week

She stresses she will focus on updating leaders about Hong Kong’s economic and political developments