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HK's Tsang sings in harmony with China's Hu
2005-10-12
HONG KONG - Taking a page from the theory of China's President Hu Jintao, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang made more than 20 references to "harmony" in a policy speech on Wednesday.Hu has led a nation-wide campaign to build a "harmonious society" over the past year, aiming to iron out kinks in a system rife with inequality and potentially explosive social tensions. Keeping in tune, Tsang sprinkled "harmony" references throughout his address, his first policy speech since becoming chief executive of the former British colony in March after his unpopular predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa, stepped down. He pledged to strive for a "harmonious community" in Hong Kong and have a "harmonious society". He spoke of "racial harmony", getting people to "work in harmony", "sustaining vitality and harmony of society", and noted "family harmony is the foundation of social harmony". He discussed "factors that threaten long-term harmony in society" and mentioned improving the environment, saying "social harmony includes harmony between humankind and nature". "Being in the right place at the right time," he concluded, "we now have the right climate for social harmony and good governance." By contrast, the 4,000 word communique issued at the end of the Chinese Communist Party's latest plenum, which ended on Tuesday, had four references to "harmonious society". David Zweig, director of the Centre for China's Transitional Studies at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said there were probably two reasons, the first a genuine interest in keeping things harmonious and stable in Hong Kong. "Tung was not able to keep harmonious relations between the government and the people, and it's hoped that Donald can," he said. The second reason was to remind the central government that Hong Kong was on the same page, he said. The territory has been governed under a "one country, two systems" formula which in theory gives it a high degree of autonomy since Britain it to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. But critics say Beijing still pulls the strings and political change in Hong Kong cannot happen without the approval of the Communist Party, which has ruled the mainland since 1949. (Reuters)
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