The Better Hong Kong Foundation Accomplished High-Level Delegation to the United States

The Better Hong Kong Foundation (“the Foundation”) sent its annual delegation to the United States from 17th to 24th June this year. The delegation paid visits to important leaders from the US government, Congress, academia, business, media, think tanks and related NGOs in Washington D.C. and New York, to update them about Hong Kong’s recent development and economic outlook. A press conference was held today to brief members of the media about the people and organizations that the delegation has met during their stay in US; members of the delegation also shared their experience gained from this delegation.

This year’s delegation was led by The Foundation’s Executive Director Miss Karen Tang,  included members: The Hon. CY Leung, Convenor of the Executive Council of HKSAR, and Chairman, Asia Pacific, DTZ; The Hon. Bernard Chan, Member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, and President, Asia Financial Holdings Ltd.; Prof. Stephen YL Cheung, Professor (Chair) of Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, Faculty of Business, City University of Hong Kong; Miss Winnie Ng, the Foundation’s Council Member, and Executive Director of Kowloon Motor Bus Co. Ltd; and Mr. Al. Reyes, Commentator on International Affairs. Mr. Chris Yeung, Editor-at-Large of the South China Morning Post was an observer of the delegation.

Miss Tang explained at the conference that this year being the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong returning to China, the Foundation has set the theme of this year’s delegation as “Hong Kong in the Past Ten Years and the Road Ahead”. “We have reviewed Hong Kong’s positioning during its integration with Mainland China under the principle of “one country, two systems; Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong; and high degree of autonomy”; its uniqueness as a cosmopolitan city and gateway to the world; and describe the challenges and opportunities that it faces”, said Miss Tang

During the mission, The Hon. CY Leung, The Hon. Bernard Chan and Prof. Cheung spoke at public talks and luncheons hosted by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Brookings Institutions, the Fund for American Studies, HKSAR Government’s Economic and Trade Office in New York, and the Asia Society.

The delegation also met with Government officials including Dr. Daniel B. Wright, Managing Director, US – China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED); and The Honourable Thomas J. Christensen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. The Foundation has a long history working with influential think tanks in the US. Therefore, the delegation also met with Cato Institute; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Brookings Institute, Heritage Foundation etc, to exchange views on Hong Kong’s development since its return to China. Apart from meetings with US Government officials and NGOs, the delegation was hosted lunch and dinners by the Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States of America, Chinese Consul General based in New York and the  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of the PRC to the United Nations.
(For itinerary details, please visit the Foundation’s website: www.betterhongkong.org)

To enhance the US media’s understanding about the latest development of Hong Kong and China, the delegation met with different media, including Forbes and Fortune magazine. Ms. Sheridan Prasso, reporter of Fortune magazine, was among them on the Welcoming Reception hosted by the Overseas Press Club in New York. Before Hong Kong’s return to China, the Fortune magazine published a cover story “The Death of Hong Kong”. And Miss Prasso wrote on the latest issue an article “Oops! Hong Kong is hardly dead”, acknowledged that the magazine (Fortune) had made a wrong judgment. (For full text of the article, please click:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/07/09/100122332/index.htm?postversion=2007062816 )

The Hon. CY Leung, The Hon Bernard Chan and Prof. Stephen Cheung mentioned on the press conference that itinerary of the delegation was packed yet well-knitted. They were able to meet with many influential Government officials, think tanks, NGOs, Congressmen and media in the States.

The Hon. Leung said that, theme of his speeches was successful implementation of “One Country, Two Systems” in Hong Kong, which was generally endorsed by the attendees. The attendees also agreed that Hong Kong has enjoyed the high degree of autonomy under the Basic Law without interference from Mainland China. At the same time, China’s booming economy has helped Hong Kong strengthen its international competitiveness. There were repeated expressions of “astonishing” by attendees to describe the encouraging developments of Hong Kong in the past ten years. The Hon Leung also highlighted the need for Hong Kong to study its proactive role in the financial and economic aspects in the Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue. (Full text of Mr. Leung’s speech is available at The Foundation’s website)

The Hon. Chan expressed that ten years ago, people in Hong Kong and outside Hong Kong foresaw a series of problems to be happened after Hong Kong’s return to China. However, it turned out that these problems did not happen. On the contrary, other unanticipated problems sprang from the close and frequent contact between Hong Kong and China, such as marriage between the couples of Hong Kong and the Mainland, and the heavy traffic at the borders, warrant more attention from the society. These reflected the bilateral influence on each other during the process of integration between Hong Kong and China.

Talking about the economy, Professor Cheung said that many of the attendees were interested in the economic cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and how this could bring to Hong Kong opportunities and challenges. Professor Cheung quoted cases of the issuance of RMB bonds in Hong Kong and the IPOs of companies from Mainland China in Hong Kong, to illustrate Hong Kong’s strategic two-way role in helping the Mainland China’s companies enter the international market, and the international enterprises to invest in China.

This was the second time Miss Winnie Ng joined the Foundation’s delegation. Miss Ng regarded that the US experts on Hong Kong and China affairs had an understanding on related issues. However, continuous and timely communications were especially important in a rapidly developing society. The Foundation would continue to support this kind of meaningful events, said Miss Ng.

Miss Tang thanked the delegates and all the organizations visited for their support in making the delegation a tremendous success. The Foundation would continue its dedication in enhancing greater international understanding between East and West by facilitating communications between Hong Kong, China and the international community. The Foundation would endeavour to organize this kind of visits for more exchanges and to promote better understanding to each other.

3 July 2007

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For itinerary details, photos, speeches and bios of delegates, please visit the Foundation’s website: www.betterhongkong.org

For enquires, please contact the Communications Manager Miss Alice Mak at (852) 2865 2529; or (852) 6030 6025; or email: alice_mak@betterhongkong.org