In a wide-ranging interview chief executive backs reclamation as best way to solve land supply issue, and hints that national security legislation is not far away
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has said tackling the city’s housing shortage will be her top priority in the coming year.
In a wide-ranging interview with the media on Sunday, where Lam looked back on her first year in office, she also hinted that national security legislation would come sooner rather than later.
Beijing had allowed her freedom in dealing with issues within the city’s autonomy, the chief executive said, but she would not “shelve” the issue. Lam said she would continue to create “the favourable criteria [for implementing the legislation]” by improving public trust in the government.
“Trust and confidence need time to grow, Beijing understands this,” Lam said. “But, I will not put it [the legislation] high on a shelf and wait for some other day to do it – we have waited too long for many things, including economic and livelihood issues.”
Lam, who served as the city’s No 2 official from 2012 to 2017, also said there had been improvements in the chief executive’s relationship with the executive and legislative branches in the past year. She also “respected and supported” the judiciary.
On Hong Kong’s economy, Lam said she hoped to help the city integrate into Beijing’s Greater Bay Area project, which seeks to transform Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland cities into a global financial and innovation hub.
