Li Jia Chao: Better coordinate development and security, actively integrate and serve the overall national development.

On the morning of January 14, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu pointed out in a speech at the Hong Kong Legislative Council that the main "two aspects" of the upcoming administrative and legislative cooperation are as follows: first, actively integrate into and serve the overall development of the country, including actively aligning with the "15th Five-Year Plan", better coordinating development and security, accelerating the development of the northern metropolitan area, and consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's international competitiveness; and second, jointly promote support and reconstruction work after the Ma Tau Wai fire, implement systemic reforms, break down vested interests, and prevent tragedies from happening again. John Lee Ka-chiu mentioned to the members of the Legislative Council "three expectations": first, to implement policies that are in line with the principle of administrative leadership and "patriots governing Hong Kong", adhere to and improve administrative leadership, ensure a mutually beneficial interaction between the executive and legislative branches, balancing each other while cooperating with each other; second, for legislators to adhere to and abide by the "Code of Conduct for Legislative Council Members", act in the fundamental interests of the country and the overall interests of society, not pursue personal political interests and glory; third, legislators should not only pay attention to individual micro needs but also consider the overall macro interests of society; when analyzing issues, they should grasp five systemic relationships well, including the overall and the local, the present and the long-term, the macro and the micro, the main contradictions and secondary contradictions, special and general relationships. There is much work to be done by the Hong Kong government and Legislative Council, and handling support and reconstruction work after the fire is immediate work. At the same time, efforts must be made to spur economic growth, plan for development, build infrastructure, and improve people's livelihoods, including accelerating the development of the northern metropolitan area; building the North Tech University City, establishing an international hub for higher education and a high-end talent aggregation area; promoting high-quality development; developing Hong Kong's industries; continuously consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's international competitiveness; and continually improving people's livelihoods, including in areas such as land and housing, transportation, healthcare, social welfare, protections for labor, and promoting social inclusiveness. He also emphasized that "patriots governing Hong Kong" is not just a slogan and must be put into practice. His expectations for the legislators are not just slogans, and he hopes that legislators, in carrying out the important task of governing Hong Kong, will bravely take on responsibility, not follow the tide in reflecting public opinion, and will lead the citizens to provide them with correct information and facts, filter out misinformation, and exercise their influence as governors. Regarding the support and reconstruction work after the Ma Tau Wai fire, John Lee Ka-chiu believes that the members of the Legislative Council will work together with the government to promote the support and reconstruction work after the fire, implement systemic reforms, jointly build a safer Hong Kong, and let the citizens live more at ease. He stressed that tragedies should not be allowed to happen again, accountability will be pursued to the end, investigating the causes of the incident, and reiterating that anyone who needs to be held responsible, whether they are government officials, high-level or grassroots, will be fairly punished according to the facts. His speech is as follows: Chairman, members of the council: First of all, I would like to thank the chairman for accepting my proposal and arranging for me to speak at the first meeting of the Legislative Council. I value every member of the Legislative Council, so after the oath-taking by the members on January 1, I specially send my blessings and address to everyone, this is the first time in history, at that time I mentioned to everyone "three expectations" and the main "two aspects" of future administrative and legislative work together. The "three expectations" are: first, to implement policies that are in line with the principle of administrative leadership and "patriots governing Hong Kong", adhere to and improve administrative leadership, ensure a mutually beneficial interaction between the executive and legislative branches, balancing each other while cooperating with each other; second, for legislators to adhere to and abide by the "Code of Conduct for Legislative Council Members", act in the fundamental interests of the country and the overall interests of society, not pursue personal political interests and glory; third, legislators should not only pay attention to individual micro needs but also consider the overall macro interests of society; when analyzing issues, they should grasp five systemic relationships well, including the overall and the local, the present and the long-term, the macro and the micro, the main contradictions and secondary contradictions, special and general relationships. I also mentioned the main "two aspects" of the upcoming administrative and legislative cooperation: first, to actively integrate into and serve the overall development of the country, including actively aligning with the "15th Five-Year Plan", better coordinating development and security, accelerating the development of the northern metropolitan area, and consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's international competitiveness; and second, to jointly promote support and reconstruction work after the Ma Tau Wai fire, implementing systemic reforms, breaking down vested interests, and preventing tragedies from happening again. The eighth Legislative Council has a long way to go, and there is much work to be done by the government and Legislative Council. Dealing with support and reconstruction work after the fire is an immediate task, and at the same time, we must work on economic growth, development planning, infrastructure construction, and improving people's livelihoods, including accelerating the development of the northern metropolitan area; building the North Tech University City, establishing an international hub for higher education and a high-end talent aggregation area; promoting high-quality development; developing Hong Kong's industries; continuously consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's international competitiveness; and continually improving people's livelihoods, including in areas like land and housing, transportation, healthcare, social welfare, protections for labor, and promoting social inclusiveness. In my address on January 1, I said that "patriots governing Hong Kong" is not just a slogan, and it must be put into practice. My "three expectations" for everyone and the main "two aspects" of cooperation are not just slogans, they must be jointly implemented by us in practice. I hope that legislators will bravely take on responsibility in carrying out the important task of governing Hong Kong, and when reflecting public opinion, not just follow the tide, but lead the citizens, provide them with correct information and facts, filter out misinformation, and exercise the influence of governors. I am willing to listen to opinions, including whether legislators agree or disagree with the government's views. When legislators disagree with government policies, please point out the problems and make suggestions, we will take them seriously and consider them; when the government is right, we also hope that everyone will speak up fairly. Everyone is concerned about the support and reconstruction work after the Ma Tau Wai fire. Therefore, the government has put forward a motion at today's first meeting of the Legislative Council to dig deep into the discussions on post-disaster and recovery work, and work together with the legislators to push for prompt implementation of long-term accommodation arrangements and other post-disaster work. At the same time, the government will propose improvement measures in various areas, support and assist the independent commission of inquiry into the Ma Tau Wai fire, complete the work as soon as possible, and implement systemic reforms. I want to review and look forward to the Ma Tau Wai fire, the government's past work, and future directions here, to elaborate on the progress and future goals in various areas, and to quickly implement long-term accommodation arrangements and promote reform. After the fire, I immediately led the government team to vigorously carry out support and follow-up work, immediately setting up three working groups, including an investigation and regulation working group led by the Secretary for Administration, an emergency support and fundraising working group led by the Deputy Secretary for Administration, and an emergency accommodation arrangement working group led by the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services, to conduct investigations, provide support, and carry out post-disaster work. First, the Fire Services Department, the Police Force, and the Government Laboratory set up specialty groups to investigate the causes of the fire. The Police Force has launched a criminal investigation, arresting 16 people suspected of manslaughter and another six people on charges of fraud. The Independent Commission Against Corruption has also arrested 14 people on charges of corruption and malpractice. In response to the varied quality of the bamboo sheds, the Development Bureau instructed all repair building bamboo sheds to be immediately dismantled and reformed the approval and testing system for bamboo sheds, only allowing bamboo sheds that pass the quality tests to be used. In terms of emergency support and temporary accommodation, the emergency support and fundraising working group and the emergency accommodation arrangement working group, led by two deputy secretaries respectively, actively coordinated and coordinated various departments to provide rapid support to the disaster-affected victims, including cash, supplies, and temporary accommodation arrangements, solving the immediate issues they faced in their lives and assisting in rebuilding their lives. The government-established "Tai Po Ma Tau Wai Aid Fund" has raised 4.3 billion Hong Kong dollars. The government has provided various subsidies to the affected individuals, including emergency funds, living allowances, sympathy money, burial funds, homeowner subsidies, hospitalization subsidies, student subsidies, worker subsidies, foreign household worker subsidies, rent subsidies, and relocation subsidies, etc. The government also has made various exemptions, including tax waivers, payment of ground rents, exemption from miscellaneous fees, relaxation of repayment period and amounts for mortgage loan guarantees, and exemption from medical service fees in public hospitals. Through the "one household, one social worker" arrangement, a small group composed of social workers from the Social Welfare Department and civil servants provides support and one-stop services to each household, including emotional support, assistance in applying for economic aid and short- to medium-term housing arrangements, helping residents rebuild normal lives as soon as possible. To ascertain the causes of the incident, hold accountable, reform systems, and prevent incidents from happening again, I have established an independent commission chaired by Judge Michael Lui to investigate the causes and related issues of the incident, ascertain the truth of the facts, hold accountable, and make recommendations to prevent incidents from happening again and improve measures. The government will pay attention to the recommendations of the independent commission and implement systemic reforms. The independent commission held its first meeting on December 19 last year and will complete its work within nine months. The government fully supports and cooperates with the independent commission, coordinating all relevant departments, providing information to the commission as required, and using the investigative powers of various government departments under different regulations to assist the independent commission in collecting evidence and information, and fully supporting the work of the independent commission. I have also given the independent commission the power to back up, to put forward statutory powers under Chapter 86 of the Laws of Hong Kong, and let the independent commission ask for the necessary information and facts, so that the independent commission can fully grasp the facts of the incident in its overall review. I reassert that I will investigate thoroughly until the end, hold accountable firmly and fairly. If anyone needs to be held accountable, whether they are government or non-government personnel; whether they are at the grassroots or at the top, they will be held accountable and punished fairly according to the facts. While the independent commission is actively working, the government will implement improvement measures in different areas, including: first, the government has established a strengthened firefighting safety governance working group to strengthen firefighting management responsibilities and enforcement, review the legal responsibilities and related penalties of all parties involved, and further research the application of firefighting technology; second, strengthening the "Building Ordinance," strengthening the oversight system for large-scale building repair projects, deepening checks and increasing penalties for registered individuals and contractors violating the rules, etc.; third, strengthening safety measures at construction sites, amending the "Construction Site (Safety) Regulation," banning smoking at any construction site, and reviewing the fire safety requirements of construction site sheds; fourth, strengthening the "Buildings Management Ordinance," including raising the threshold for the number of owners required to attend and vote on decisions or expenditures projects by incorporated owners, strengthening regulations on appointed representatives' documents and declarations of interests, and expanding the powers of regulatory authorities; fifth, enhancing the functionality of the "Bid Rigging" and standard bidding arrangements. The government will propose the above related suggestions in today's subsequent motions. In addition, with regards to the long-term living arrangements of affected families, the government will propose considerations in the motions. Considering the wishes of affected families, as well as making efficient use of resources, these considerations must be lawful and reasonable. I understand that every affected family has different ideas, and society has various opinions. The government has contacted Ma Tau Wai estate owners through the Social Welfare Department's "one household, one social worker" program last week to collect preliminary opinions from them on long-term living arrangement proposals, allowing the emergency accommodation arrangement working group to analyze in detail and provide recommendations to the government, in order to formulate and implement specific plans to assist affected families in rebuilding their homes as soon as possible. I would like to re-emphasize four points here: first, the government will finalize long-term accommodation arrangement proposals for families affected by the fire as soon as possible, allowing them to settle down as soon as possible. Various considerations and proposals will be put forward at the government's proposed motions today; second, to investigate the causes of the incident, the investigations of law enforcement agencies and the independent commission's inquiry will be meticulous, leaving no stone unturned. I will investigate thoroughly and hold accountable firmly. I reiterate once again that if anyone needs to be held accountable, whether they are government or non-government personnel; whether they are at the grassroots or at the top, they will be held accountable and punished fairly according to the facts. Third, the Ma Tau Wai fire has shown that the systems and institutions that have been in place for many years need reforms. The government will take the recommendations of the independent commission seriously, implement systemic reforms, break down vested interests, and prevent incidents from happening again. Fourth, the government is urgent to commence targeted improvement measures in various areas, and will propose suggestions in subsequent government motions. The government will spare no effort in post-disaster work to allow affected families to rebuild their lives as soon as possible. I believe that the government and the Legislative Council share the same commitment and determination and will work together with the affected families to embark on the path of rebuilding their lives. I also believe that in the subsequent debates on the motions, each legislator will provide valuable opinions, work together with the government, unite their hearts and minds, jointly promote support and reconstruction work after the fire, implement systemic reforms, jointly build a safer Hong Kong, and allow citizens to live more securely. Thank you, Chairman.