Hong Kong is prepping to gain further insights into the latest speech delivered by President Xi Jinping in China’s Special Administrative Region.
What Happened: The education and social welfare sectors in Hong Kong are organizing seminars to study Xi’s speech, which he delivered on his recent visit to the former British crown colony as it marked 25 years of its return to China, reported the South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong’s Education Secretary Christine Choi Yuk-Lin is reportedly set to attend one such seminar on Friday, which will be hosted by pro-Beijing groups.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Education Bureau said, “All sectors of the community including the education sector attach great importance [to the speech],” according to the SCMP.
The representative refused to comment on whether students and teachers will also be required to study the Chinese leader’s speech.
Wong Kwan-yu, the President of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and Hua Xia Education Foundation, which is hosting “the spirit of Xi’s important speech” seminar, said Xi “risked his life [amid the pandemic] to come to Hong Kong to give a speech – we should pay attention to what he said as his remarks are very important to Hong Kong’s future.”
Another seminar dubbed “learn and promote” the spirit of Xi’s speech is due to be held by the Beijing liaison office in Hong Kong, according to SCMP.
Guests at that seminar will include Tam Yiu-chung, the city’s only delegate to China’s top legislative body — the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, Hong Kong’s labor minister Chris Sun Yuk-han and social welfare legislator Tik Chi-yuen.
Why It Matters: Wong said Xi spelled out the vision for Hong Kong’s future in his speech, the SCMP reported.
However, some analysts have expressed views that the seminars are tantamount to “formalism.”
“People may just show up for the sake of attending and the Hong Kong public would not take it too seriously either,” said Hong Kong Community College of Polytechnic University political scientist Chan Wai-keung.
On the contrary, Tik said he views the seminars as an “opportunity” to meet people rather than as study session events that take place on the mainland.
“It is also a good chance to exchange views and explore how the social welfare sector can contribute to what Hong Kong is expected to achieve along the thoughts of Xi,” said Tik.
