In the final instalment of our series of previews on the five-year plan and policy address, to be announced on September 16, Natalie Wong and Matthew Cheng look at how national security spans areas such as finance and technology and what Hong Kong must do to earn Beijing’s trust. Read part one here, part two here, part three here and part four here.
With the recent sentencing of former leaders of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Square vigil concluding a key high-profile subversion case, it would be easy to assume the city’s national security agenda has been largely settled.
Now would be the time to focus entirely on economic growth and downplay national security, some experts have argued, warning the issue could deter potential investors.
But that would be an erroneous and narrow understanding of national security, overlooking how inextricably it is tied to economic development, other insiders familiar with the government’s thinking have said.
Indeed, in the coming inaugural five-year plan Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu will announce on Wednesday, a full chapter will be dedicated to national security, the South China Morning Post has learned.
The emphasis will be another clear rebuttal to detractors on why national security extends well beyond law enforcement or combating “soft resistance” efforts, and is the framework that ensures economic development can enhance value rather than expose vulnerabilities for the country.
Authorities are expected to lay institutional safeguards across key areas – most notably finance and technology among China’s 11 critical domains – to shield Hong Kong in its path to better support the country’s growth and its navigation of geopolitical risks.