Hong Kong must preserve its cultural advantage of having a “high tolerance” of differing views, the city’s justice minister has said, citing press freedom and the free flow of information as critical to the financial hub’s global status.
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Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok also said on Saturday that Hong Kong’s political predictability was a key attraction for outside investors, though he conceded it would be difficult to fix the city’s perception problem in the short term.
President Xi Jinping last month reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to uphold the “one country, two systems” principle at the inauguration ceremony of the new Macau leader, saying that the arrangement embodies the values of peace, tolerance, openness and sharing.
Lam, who spoke at a seminar marking the sixth anniversary of the Hong Kong News-Expo, placed emphasis on the value of tolerance as a key feature setting the city apart from mainland counterparts.
He said freedom of speech was an important indicator of social tolerance, and the city’s ability to listen to different views when addressing challenges had always been its key to success.
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“To maintain Hong Kong’s institutional advantages, one aspect is our cultural advantage – we are very inclusive and totally don’t mind that others are different. We have a high tolerance level. We have a sense of boundaries and we respect that other people have their own matters,” he said.
He said safeguarding Hong Kong’s freedom of the press also had implications for the city’s fortunes: “Freedom of the press is an essential part of freedom of speech, and the flow of information affects everything. How can a financial centre be built without information circulation?”