Chapter 63 How big is the Hong Kong government?
When I came to the CCTV Hong Kong reporter station, it is impossible not to be familiar with the Hong Kong government, because I have the responsibility to reflect every move of the Hong Kong government at any time, so I must first know where the Hong Kong government headquarters is. Usually, the government’s decree is Through what channels to disseminate to the society.
The first time I went to the Hong Kong Government Headquarters for an interview, I remember when I got into a taxi, I asked the driver: "Excuse me, do you know where the Hong Kong Government's office building is?" The driver said: "Yes, Central, Lower Albert Road .”
"Lower Albert Road?" What is the name of this place?
The driver said: "Who knows? When the British were here, the headquarters was there. The names of the streets seem to be related to some foreigners' names."
In the past, I was in the Mainland. Because I was a reporter, of course I visited many local government offices. Take Beijing as an example. The Beijing Municipal People’s Government is located on the famous Zhengyi Road in the southeast of Chang’an Avenue. There are guards, and next to it is 8341-the headquarters of the Beijing Garrison.Ordinary people don't say that they can walk in easily by lifting their legs, but they just stand across the road and look this way. The sacredness and majesty make people's heart beat faster.However, the first time I came to the location of the Hong Kong government headquarters, there was no "high wall" outside the courtyard, and there were no "guards" with live ammunition inside and outside the door.After entering the gate, I noticed that not only did we not need to register, we didn’t even need to get off the taxi. The driver just said to the management staff in front of the gate, “I’m pulling a reporter”, and the management staff let me go. Finally, the driver took me and the cameraman All the way to the door of an office building in the yard.
After paying the fare, I got out of the car that day, really disapproving.But for the Hong Kong government in front of us, the national emblem and regional emblem are indeed hung on the lintel of the main building, and the national flag and regional flag are indeed on the small square in front of the building. There are many signs that a local government should have, but the environment and atmosphere are different from those of the mainland. If you want to take a photo, put the national emblem, regional emblem, national flag, and regional flag into the camera, there is simply not enough distance behind you.
On October 18, 2005, the live broadcast of "Shenzhen 6" had just ended. After five days of intense work, I thought I could take a good rest. A notice: At 5:30 p.m., a vice-minister of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Hong Kong Financial Secretary will jointly meet the media, and the two sides will jointly hold a press conference at the government headquarters on the "CEPA Supplementary Agreement II" just signed.Well, we must report such important news, so we rested our saddles and put them on again, and hurried to "Lower Albert Road".
"CEPA" may not be clear to mainlanders, but Hong Kong people should know it. Its full name is "Mainland and Hong Kong Arrangement for Establishing Closer Economic and Trade Cooperation". Hong Kong encountered the Asian financial crisis in 1998, and caught up with SARS in 2003. The economy once fell into a trough. The central government adopted a series of policies to support Hong Kong, and helped Hong Kong society recover with various preferential policies. Among them, "CEPA" is very important. In 2004, Hong Kong's economy really began to recover in an all-round way, and the implementation of "CEPA" can be said to have contributed a lot.
When I came to the government headquarters, I was already familiar with the various government departments and offices in Hong Kong.Pushing open the glass door of the "West Wing" office building, I went straight to the reception desk in the front hall and asked the staff, "Where is today's press conference held later?"The staff said "it's here", but the "here" she said was actually the front hall, the first floor of the "West Wing" where people enter and exit, and the passageway for getting on and off the elevator. This area is four or five meters wide and about the same length More than 20 meters, many times the government will use this long and narrow ground to hold a simple "press conference" (I couldn't believe it for the first time).After a while, a dedicated press release platform was placed in the center of the channel, with reporters on one side, and behind the release platform was an elevator. Start immediately.
Is the Hong Kong government big or small?
From the point of view of architecture, it is not big and not advanced enough; from the point of view of pockets, I remember that because of the third anniversary of the signing of "CEPA", I conducted an exclusive interview with Chief Executive Donald Tsang. At that time he said: "If the Hong Kong government is in harmony with the world Compared with the local governments in other developed countries, we are really pitifully small. For example, other governments can control 40% of the total tax revenue of the whole society every year, while we only have 20%. Therefore, Hong Kong is a veritable small government and a big society..."
Perhaps, the amount of money a government can control is only one aspect of measuring the size of the government. In addition, "dignity and authority" is an index.When I was in Hong Kong, I saw that the government was always cautious and careful in handling all social affairs, as if walking on eggshells.Hong Kong citizens can be satisfied or dissatisfied at any time, praise or criticize every move of the government.How many times did Tung Chee-hwa, the first chief executive, receive "swearing" after he came to power?Names were named in the newspapers, the language was disrespectful, photos, cartoons, including personality satire, were extremely enjoyable; since Tsang Yam-kuen came to power, he insisted on "strengthening government and encouraging governance". , try to convince people with reasoning, I heard the "most dissatisfied" sentence expressed by the chief executive to the media, at best, "a journalist should have a bit of morality". , The rude words really made the chief executive very angry.
However, as long as all the decrees of the Hong Kong government are made, they are not only hard to follow, but also have great authority. Anyone who violates them will be sued, and the citizens will know how to be afraid, but they are not "feared" by a certain chief executive , a secretary or a specific government official, but the Legislative Council behind the government.In principle, any major policies and large-scale administrative expenditures introduced by the Hong Kong government must be voted on by members of the Legislative Council. , all departments and all walks of life must strictly implement it.If we talk about "authority", then the government is called "bully".
In 2003, the outside world once accused the Hong Kong government of always being "slower than other cities" in dealing with the SARS epidemic. For example, the announcement of various measures such as "quarantine" and "closure of buildings" were relatively late. Later, when I interviewed Margaret Chan, then director of the Department of Health (elected as Director-General of the United Nations World Health Organization in November 2006), "Mrs. Chen" told me: "Actions such as 'quarantine' and 'closing buildings' are not common practice in Hong Kong." For small matters, I am not the director of the bureau, nor can Mr. Dong, the chief executive, make the decision. We have to get the approval of the executive council of the government first, and then the approval of the Legislative Council. No one can do it in one night. Just 'make a decision immediately'."
The same example: In June 2006, after a long period of discussions and disputes in the society, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong finally passed the plan proposed by the SAR government to rebuild a new government office building, and approved the expenditure of 5.2 billion Hong Kong dollars. The horse ship broke ground and was built.In this case, many citizens criticized the government as "extravagant and wasteful", but what happened? Now that the "Tamar Project" has been voted "construction" by a majority of members of the Legislative Council, construction will start within a few days. Who wants to stop it?It's useless no matter how hard I try...