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SCMP Reporters

Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor tried to unveil her third policy address on Wednesday morning against the backdrop of the city’s worst political crisis since its return to Chinese rule in 1997, but the meeting was cut short amid heckling by opposition lawmakers in the legislature. 
Lam earlier said her annual speech - similar to a state of the union address - would focus on land and housing issues, but critics expressed little hope of any measures defusing the increasingly violent protests. The policy address was eventually delivered on a recorded video. 
There were few protesters at the heavily guarded legislature in the lead-up to the session, and relatively muted discussions online of any plans to besiege the complex.
Follow our live blog below for the latest updates. Reporting by Joyce Ng, Gary Cheung, Denise Tsang, Kanis Leung, Tony Cheung, Jeffie Lam, Sum Lok-kei, Kimmy Chung, Alvin Lum, Linda Lew and Martin Choi.


Carrie Lam insists she still has will and determination to govern Hong Kong despite criticism that policy address does not target unrest

Photo: Nora Tam

‘Not feasible to relaunch a debate on universal suffrage now,’ Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam tells EU, according to internal report

News

Hong Kong

Politics

Carrie Lam is reportedly determined to put ‘Hong Kong back in business’. Photo: AP

Protesters march with their masks on. Masked anti-government protestors stage a protest against the government's anti-mask law during the 19th weekend of anti-extradition bill protests. 12OCT19 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Carmen Cano De Lasala, Head of European Union office to Hong Kong and Macao, poses for a picture in Central. 23SEP16 SCMP / Edward Wong


Chief executive attempts twice to deliver speech in Legco but is cut short by heckling lawmakers, and has to resort to video feed
Lam earlier said she would zero in on housing, but critics urge strong reforms as anti-government demonstrations roll into their fifth month



Chief executive earlier said she wanted 'storm' to end soon and will zero in on housing.


Hong Kong protests

Hong Kong extradition bill

Carrie Lam policy address 2019

Carrie Lam

Legislative Council of Hong Kong

Live

There are only a dozen protesters outside the legislature at the moment, but the mood is tense. Police presence is heavy, with some stationed outside Legco, which is heavily barricaded, while others patrol the nearby Admiralty MTR station. On a footbridge linking Legco to Citic Tower, a green mesh has been set up on one side, obscuring the view. 



Mood tense, police presence heavy

Protesters have brought a huge yellow banner and laid it out on the ground by the Lennon Wall stairs in Admiralty. The banner reads: "Citizens mask their faces, Carrie Lam masks her heart". 
Meanwhile, the League of Social Democrats are among protesters, and police tell them to move to a designated protest zone instead of standing outside Legco. The zone is no longer at the Legco drum but on sidewalks on Tim Wa Avenue. 



'Citizens mask face, Carrie Lam masks heart'

Carrie Lam has arrived at Legco. Meanwhile, lawmakers and journalists have to pass through security checks to enter the complex. 




Carrie Lam arrives

At the moment, there are no black-clad protesters at Legco, with online discussion relatively muted on channels that demonstrators frequent. The main groups protesting outside the complex are members of the League of Social Democrats, led by ousted lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung (right, bottom pic). 




No black-clad protesters

Former lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung says the lack of protesters outside Legco shows people do not take the chief executive seriously. 
"Lam says she wants dialogue, but today we were stopped by police when we tried to hand her a letter," he says, urging Hongkongers to join a protest against the mask ban on October 20.    


'Lack of protesters shows no one takes Lam seriously'

A group of 15 pan-democrats take the chance to challenge ministers as they walk by to enter the Legco chamber.
They shout in support of the five main demands of the anti-government movement.
Also directed at the senior officials were chants calling for Carrie Lam to step down and for an investigation into allegations of police brutality.
A group of 15 pan-democrats grabbed the chance to protest when ministers walked by and entered the chamber.
  Video: SCMP/Kimmy Chung pic.twitter.com/Z9pU9GiOoj
  — SCMP Hong Kong (@SCMPHongKong) October 16, 2019


Ministers enter chamber to opposition chants

Carrie Lam has entered the Legco chamber. Dressed in a pink suit, she gets ready to deliver her third policy address. She is heckled by pan-democrats from both inside and outside the renovated chamber. 


Lam takes the stage

The Legco meeting is suspended within minutes after two pan-democrats were ordered to leave the chamber.
Lam was being repeatedly heckled inside and outside the chamber as she tried in vain to outline her government's policy programme.
The city leader had not yet started her speech, only saying her policy address would be uploaded online later.
Pan-democrats Tanya Chan and Raymond Chan Chi-chuen were ordered to leave the chamber shortly before the suspension.


Policy address suspended

Sources have previously told the Post that if Lam failed to deliver the speech in the chamber, she would do so through a live feed or a taped video. 


Live feed or taped video?

Pro-democracy lawmakers Eddie Chu and Au Nok-hin are using pictures of President Xi Jinping to cover their faces in a nod to the anti-mask law that has fuelled more protests.
Civic Party lawmakers, also in the chamber, are wearing black T-shirts with "five demands, not one less" emblazoned on them, a key slogan of the months-long movement against the government and police.   


Lawmakers wearing President Xi masks

Most lawmakers have returned to their seats in the legislature, as they wait for Lam's speech to resume. Tanya Chan and Raymond Chan, who were earlier asked to leave, remain absent. 


Lawmakers return to seats

Several diplomats from overseas are attending the policy address session at the invitation of the government.
Carmen Cano, head of European Union's office in Hong Kong, is among them. She recently held talks with Carrie Lam in which the Hong Kong leader reportedly said it was not yet possible to relaunch debate on universal suffrage amid the crisis.



Diplomats survey the chaos

On the online platform LIHKG, the Reddit-like virtual command centre of the anti-government movement, users are showing little interest in staging any protests against Lam on Wednesday morning.
"It's not that there is any evil law to be passed [in the legislature].
"Even if we block her from going in, she would still have ways to deliver her policy address which nobody cares. Let's focus our efforts on promoting the October 20 march," one writes, referring to the procession planned by the Civil Human Rights Front.
Another user writes: "It's better to ignore her and treat her as a nobody.
Others point to the heavy police presence around the Legislative Council complex, saying any attempt to besiege the building would only result in mass arrests.   


Little appetite for protests

Carrie Lam has re-entered the chamber to resume her speech, but lawmakers are still shouting and protesting. She is interrupted while the Legco president tries to restore order. 


Carrie Lam resumes speech

Lawmakers in the chamber from pan-democrat benches continue to chant "five demands, not one less!". They are preventing Lam from speaking.
Legco president Andrew Leung says the policy address is important, and it is lawmakers’ responsibility to receive the address.
Leung says if lawmakers continue to stop Lam from delivering the speech, he will expel them from the chamber.
The president tells security guards to take away a projector in lawmaker Au Nok-hin's posession, which is used to project the slogan "five demands, not one less".
Several lawmakers have been kicked out.


More chaos in chamber

Amid more scenes of mayhem, today's meeting has been adjourned.
Pro-democracy lawmakers stopped the chief executive from opening her policy address by repeated heckling.
Six lawmakers were expelled from the chamber, including: Lam Cheuk-ting, Shiu Ka-chun, Andrew Wan Siu-kin, Tanya Chan and Raymond Chan.
Lam leaves the chamber.
Several pan-democratic lawmakers go after Lam, with some throwing their placards. Lam has left the chamber surrounded by security guards.
Amid scenes of mayhem and constant heckling of embattled leader Carrie Lam, today's meeting has been adjourned.
  Video: SCMP/Alvin Lum pic.twitter.com/5I05kno3bp
  — SCMP Hong Kong (@SCMPHongKong) October 16, 2019


Meeting adjourned

The government has not announced what will happen next after the suspension.
Sources from the administration previously said delivering the address by pre-recorded message was an option.


Confusion over next steps

According to Legco's rules, the president can resume the meeting any time after it is adjourned. In the past, lawmakers could only meet on the following Wednesday after the adjournment of a council meeting. But pro-establishment lawmakers changed the rules in recent years, allowing the president to resume the meeting any time. 


Meeting can resume any time according to rules 

Government sources say that Lam is not expected to return to the Legco building today.   


Lam unlikely to return to Legco: sources 

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam was heckled as she was escorted out the chamber by security.
  Video: SCMP/Kimmy Chung pic.twitter.com/QZuIuHWu7W
  — SCMP Hong Kong (@SCMPHongKong) October 16, 2019


The scene earlier as Lam left Legco

Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan says Lam is in no place to give her policy address, or to be the city's leader. "Today we project people's demands on her body, her face, on Legco," Chan says. The lawmaker calls for Lam to resign and give Hong Kong a chance to reboot.
"I urge her, if she can't govern Hong Kong ... Please step down. This is the only way Hong Kong can go forward ... She is the culprit. She is the cause of people taking to the streets. How dare she deliver her policy address here? How dare she talk about governing Hong Kong?"


Calls for Lam's resignation

Security surrounded Hong Kong's leader to keep lawmakers at arm's length as she left the chamber earlier.


Photos: K.Y. Cheng, May Tse


Images capture Lam shielded during retreat

Executive Council convenor Bernard Chan (pic below) expresses regret over the abrupt adjournment of the policy address. "This is a session for citizens to hear from the chief executive, regrettably it can’t be done now," he says. 
Diplomats from the European Union, Germany and Sweden, among others, are in attendance today. They have refrained from commenting.

Meanwhile, executive councillor Wong Kwok-kin, also a lawmaker from the Hong Kong Federation of Unions, says only two colleagues from Lam's cabinet showed up as they expected the meeting to be suspended. "Chaos was expected. We could all tell."


'Chaos was expected'

The government says Lam's speech will be delivered in a video address airing at 12.15pm today rather than live from the Legco chamber.
In a statement, the Chief Executive’s Office says: "Owing to the current circumstances, the chief executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, was not able to deliver the entire policy address at the Legislative Council today.
"To allow members of the public to know in full the various initiatives in it, she will deliver the policy address to members of the public through video at about 12.15pm today.
"Members of the public can view the broadcast on TV and the policy address website."
A government source says the administration expects all major TV stations to broadcast the delivery of the policy address.


Policy address to be given via video

Pro-democracy lawmaker Charles Mok, who represents the information technology sector, says: "When 80 per cent of people in Hong Kong do not believe she has the mandate to govern, she has no right to deliver the policy address in Legco."
He says the pan-democrats have brought the people's voice to the chamber today.
Another pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching calls the adjournment "an historic moment for Hong Kong".
"She is so terrified that she has to hide behind the camera," she says, referring to the new arrangements for delivering the policy address.


'Bringing the people's voice to Legco'

A political source says Legco President Andrew Leung met pro-establishment lawmakers after the first suspension to discuss how to resolve the chamber deadlock, but added pro-democracy blocs refused to meet with Leung to negotiate.


Lawmakers snub Legco president

A former Legco lawmaker for 27 years, Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee, says Lam has again taken the wrong path.
The honorary chairwoman of the pro-business Liberal Party says: "How can she pretend the crisis is over? It reflects a total lack of wisdom and sensitivity. She has further distanced herself from the people."
Civic Party lawmaker Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu says only those not willing to face the public would given an address through the television.
"This is not going to work. When the government cannot govern, no matter via which means, you still cannot govern," he says.   


TV address ‘not going to work’

Liberal Party leader Felix Chung Kwok-pan says the suspension is expected. "It follows the script of the pro-democracy camp, which wishes to interrupt and insult Lam," Chung adds. 
"The government has broken with the long history and tradition [of delivering the policy address in Legco], which has been in place for more than 40 years."
He again urges the government to solve the ongoing crisis with political means. "Political crises can never be solved by livelihood and economic means." 


'Solve political crisis with political means' 

On Reddit-like site LIHKG, several users have praised the pan-democrats' strategies - which have successfully forced the adjournment of the meeting - as "creative and effective".
At a press meet earlier, the lawmakers played an audio recording of the firing of tear gas and screaming of protesters.
One forum user writes: "They have spoken on behalf of 80 per cent of Hongkongers." 


Online praise for pan-democrats 

Lawmaker Martin Liao Cheung-kong, the leader of the pro-establishment bloc, pictured below, issues a strong condemnation of the pan-democrats for obstructing proceedings in Legco.
He says the policy address is crucial for the city's development in the coming years.
Liao says their actions are "totally unforgiveable".
"No excuse can be offered to justify this kind of behaviour that happened in the chamber today," he says. "The chief executive came to deliver the policy address and Legco is under a constitutional duty to hear and discuss. That has been prevented for no good reason."
Another lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king, leader of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, calls on pan-democrats to stop disrupting the legislature's operations.
She says social problems should be solved in the legislature, not on the streets.

   


Disruptive lawmakers scolded

Carrie Lam is restarting her policy address, this time via video. Click here to watch the feed.
Although she is dressed in the same outfit she was wearing while in Legco this morning, a source says the video was pre-recorded. 
Lam says in the past four months, Hong Kong has faced unprecedented challenges.
In the past, the chief executive says, Hong Kong has been a safe city, but recently protests have affected many communities.
She says more than 400 protests have been held, with more than 1,100 people injured and more than 2,200 arrested over the period of unrest.

   


WATCH policy address video

Lam lays out some of her principles she says she cannot deviate from:


"One country, two systems" and human rights, but cannot tolerate Hong Kong independence


The rule of law as an important core value for Hong Kong, including an independent judiciary


Protection of Hong Kong values as developed by the executive, legislature, judiciary, public bodies and media




Lam sets out red lines

Lam says society will agree that violence will only destroy the city's core values, strengths and systems. She urges society to let Hong Kong return to normal. She says there will be 200 initiatives in this address, adding that officials will listen to the public. 


'200 initiatives in address' 

Lam says housing is the most pressing issue facing Hong Kong, and the "root" of social discontent. 
"Housing is not a simple commodity," she says. "It is important to provide people with proper homes. This is the foundation of a stable society."
She says today she sets a "clear goal" for housing in the city that "each and every Hongkonger need not scratch their heads and they can have their own homes in Hong Kong".
She announces a raft of short to long-term measures.   


'Every Hongkonger can have own home'

New People's Party lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, also an adviser to Lam in the Executive Council, calls pan-democrats' behaviour "anti-democratic".
"[It is] oppressive of the right of the chief executive and the right and freedom of myself and my colleagues, who want to listen to the policy address. Nothing can justify this," she says.


'Pan-democrats oppressive': Regina Ip

The first housing measure she announces is to boost supply of so-called "transitional housing", for those who are on the queue for public accommodation.
A total of 10,000 units will be built in the next three years, she promises.
An existing HK$2 billion fund will be increased to HK$5 billion to pool together efforts of professionals, the Urban Renewal Authority and the Housing Society to build such homes on either vacant government sites or land lent from private developers.   


10,000 flats to be built over three years

The government will offer relief for low-income households not living in public rental flats and not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), including people on the waiting list for public housing, by providing a cash allowance, Lam says.
"As it takes time to devise a scheme to provide the cash allowance on a regular basis, I will invite the Community Care Fund to launch two rounds of “one-off living subsidy” for those low-income households in the next financial year, the first round of which was announced as part of the relief measures.
"This will allow us time to complete the relevant study towards the end of 2020."
On land supply, Lam says a task force has submitted a report last year, and the government accepted that land supply needed to be increased in various ways.
The Tomorrow Lantau Vision, which she put forward in her second policy address last year, could provide a substantial number of residential flats, Lam adds.
"I understand some people have concern about the environmental impact of reclaiming artificial islands in the waters between Lantau and the west of Hong Kong Island," she says.
"We will continue to explain to the public about the plan.
"We hope Legco approves the funding for the feasibility study of the scheme."   


Rent subsidies for those on waiting list

The government will invite the MTR Corporation to plan and design three rail lines: Tung Chung Extension, Tuen Mun South Extension and Northern Link.     The three lines were listed in the official Railway Development Strategy 2014. Under the scheme, Northern Link and Kwu Tung station will be on a regional line formed by linking Kam Sheung Road station on the West Rail line to a new station at Kwu Tung on the Lok Ma Chau Spur line.     Tung Chung West Extension is formed by extending the Tung Chung line westward with a new station at Tung Chung West.     Tuen Mun South Extension is formed by extending the West Rail line southward from Tuen Mun station to a new station at Tuen Mun South.


Three new MTR lines

The government-backed Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation will relax the ceiling of mortgage financing schemes for first-home buyers.
For those who are allowed to borrow up to 90 per cent of the value of the flat, the lending cap is raised to HK$8 million from the existing HK$4 million.
The cap is raised to HK$10 million from HK$6 million for potential home owners able to take mortgages worth up to 80 per cent of the value.


Lending sweeteners for first-home buyers

As expected, Lam announces the government will proactively make use of the Lands Resumption Ordinance to take back private land for public housing.
Three types of land will be seized:  1. About 450 hectares of brownfield - abandoned farmland - near existing new towns or main roads, such as Ping Shan in Yuen Long and Lam Tei in Tuen Mun.  2. Land planned for public housing in existing zoning plans, with proposals stalled because of different reasons such as diverse ownership.  3. Three urban squatter villagers Ngau Chi Wan, Cha Kwo Ling and Chuk Yuen United Village, totalling 7 hectares.
More measures include redeveloping the Housing Authority's factory estates for public housing, selling some 42,000 unsold public rental flats to tenants under a past Tenants Purchase Scheme, and entrusting the Urban Renewal Authority with "a new mission" to actively provide more subsidised housing, in addition to its current business of building private homes on redeveloped sites. 
Lam says: "We understand that about 700 hectares of private land will be resumed, of which some 400 hectares is expected to be resumed in the next five years, significantly more than the 20 hectares in the past five years."


Proactive land resumption

Lam says in recent years, the government’s welfare and health care spending has increased by 29 per cent. In 2019/20, a total of HK$164.9 billion will be spent. 
Lam says the preschool rehabilitation quota has increased to 7,000, and will further expand to 10,000. The government’s goal is to shorten the waiting time to zero. She announces that the government will strengthen its support for children with special needs. Various measures will benefit 5,700 such children and their parents.
Lam says the 152 new initiatives to improve people's livelihood announced in her last two policy addresses have largely been completed or are progressing as scheduled. 


HK$164.9 billion for welfare and health care 

Carrie Lam says the Urban Renewal Authority has located two sites in Kowloon City for a civil servants quarters scheme, which involves redeveloping more than 30 buildings. URA will announce the schemes early next year, she adds.   


Development schemes in Kowloon City

Apart from taking private land by law, Lam also unveils details for the Land Sharing Scheme announced last year. The scheme will start early next year to facilitate private projects if developers are willing to contribute part of the homes they build for public housing. 
To ensure transparency, a new committee will be set up involving civil servants from different disciplines. All existing town-planning procedures will still be followed. The scheme will cover private sites not more than 150 hectares. 
"I note that the private developers have offered to donate land. I welcome their initiatives. This does not affect our determination to open up more land. I appeal for their support over the use of the Lands Resumption Ordinance to facilitate public housing development."


Details unveiled for Land Sharing Scheme

As part of the HK$19 billion relief measures announced recently, the one-off HK$2,500 subsidy for students for the 2020/21 fiscal year will become an annual payment.
The move will benefit 900,000 students, a considerable proportion of whom have been heavily involved in the protests.


Student subsidy expanded

Lam says the government plans to transform more than 170 public leisure areas to make them more fun. Authorities will also encourage community involvement in the process to realise this. 


Revamping 170 public leisure areas

Lam says after the first District Health Centre was launched in Kwai Tsing last month, the government will speed up the opening of such centres citywide. She says six centres are expected to be built within the current term of the government, and another 11 temporary centres will be set up. 
Lam says a range of measures will be launched to support patients suffering from rare diseases, including a database. 


More district health centres, measures for rare diseases

The government will extend its support for ferry services to another eight routes, taking the total number of subsidised routes to 14, says Lam.
She says it will also help deliver improvements on 11 routes, which includes buying 47 new ferries.   


Public cash for more ferry routes

The chief executive also proposes allowing commuters to receive a bigger discount under the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme, as revealed by the Post earlier this week.
Commuters whose monthly travel currently costs more than HK$400 receive subsidies of 25 per cent of the excess spent, capped at HK$300. Lam proposes raising that to 30 per cent.
Fees on government-owned tunnels will also be waived to ease the public’s transport cost burden.
The marine tunnel between Tuen Mun and Chek Lap Kok on Lantau, which is to be completed in 2020, and the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin tunnel, due for completion in 2021, will be free of charge.
Other link roads such as Lantau Link connecting Tsing Yi and Lantau Island will also be exempted from charges.


Tunnel fees waived, travel discounts

Hong Kong's economy slipped into a technical recession in the third quarter, following a decline of 0.5 per cent in the second quarter from the preceding quarter, according to policy address papers.
Lam says: "Although Hong Kong's economy faces challenges externally and internationally, I deeply believe that the efforts in these [last] two years help us to withstand the waves."
The city leader announces measures designed to boost business. 
The number of start-ups in Hong Kong jumped 42.8 per cent to more than 3,100 firms, Lam says. She adds the government has boosted the innovation and technology sector, while grabbing opportunities in the "Belt and Road Initiative" and "Greater Bay Area" plan to bring new factors to enhance the local economy. 
To create more business opportunities, the Hong Kong government will seek policy support from mainland authorities on tax incentives, and simplified procedures for companies seeking to expand across the border. It will arrange for overseas trade delegations comprising companies from Hong Kong and mainland China that are under the "Belt and Road Initiative".


City into technical recession

Concluding her address, which lasted about 50 minutes, Lam says the atmosphere of pessimism must be turned around, and Hong Kong must set sail again.
The city must also hold firm on the rule of law, "one country, two systems", its status as an international financial centre, and Hong Kong people’s rationalism, she adds. 
"Hong Kong is facing the most severe challenge since 1997, but as we end violence, we will see the rainbow after the storm," she says as her pre-recorded video concludes.   


‘Rainbow after the storm’

Lam's policy address today only spanned 53 paragraphs. It is the shortest address since the city's return to Chinese rule in 1997. Her speech last year stretched 322 paragraphs and was the longest since the handover. 


Shortest policy address since 1997 handover

Here are some scenes captured by our photographers around town as Lam's recorded policy address played on screens. Photos by Sam Tsang and Felix Wong. 





Scenes from around town

As today's meeting of the Legislative Council has been adjourned, security chief John Lee’s official announcement on the extradition bill’s withdrawal is set to be postponed to the next time it sits.
That is due on October 23, although Legco president Andrew Leung could decide to meet before that day.
The bill, which would have allowed for extradition to mainland China, sparked the protests that have gripped the city since June, which have developed into a wider anti-government movement.


Formal withdrawal of extradition bill delayed

Legco president Andrew Leung has confirmed that the withdrawal of the extradition bill will be postponed to next Wednesday. He adds that a question-and-answer session for Carrie Lam in Legco will be held tomorrow as scheduled. 
The hated legislation sparked mass protests in June that have since morphed into the ongoing anti-government movement. The bill would have allowed for the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has no such agreement, including mainland China. 


Withdrawal of extradition bill postponed to next Wednesday

Here are the main takeaways from today's policy address:

Housing is the key, with 10,000 transitional homes promised for the poor and mortgage measures for aspiring homeowners
Hundreds of hectares of private land will be seized, adopting an idea floated by the pro-Beijing bloc earlier
A "one-off living subsidy" will be given to low-income households not living in public housing or receiving welfare; commuters will get transport subsidies 
Fresh measures to ease the burden of enterprises will be unveiled later, as Lam says the economy has "already slipped into a technical recession" since the third quarter, with the gross domestic product shrinking 0.5 per cent
The demands by protesters, such as an independent inquiry into police action and universal suffrage, were not addressed. 

Look out for a more extensive take on these issues in our report coming soon. 


Key takeaways

The pro-establishment camp has issued a joint statement expressing deep regret and strong objection in response to the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 in the lower chamber of the US Congress.
"We strongly object to the House of Representatives' attempt to grossly interfere in the domestic affairs of Hong Kong and to promote the political interests of their proxies in Hong Kong," the statement read, accusing the US congressional committees of listening to "biased and one-sided" testimonies.  
"[The passage of the act] will not only damage Hong Kong’s business environment, but also Sino-American relationship. US interests are bound to be adversely affected as a result," the camp says.
The camp also notes that the act has erroneously referred to the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" as the "Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region". "Such a careless mistake fully betrays the House of Representative's lack of understanding of Hong Kong's constitutional status and its cavalier approach towards Hong Kong issues," the bloc adds.


Pro-establishment camp slams passage of US act

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king says her party, the largest in the pro-Beijing camp, is disappointed with Lam's policy address as it lacks measures to calm the months-long unrest.
"Apart from calling on the public to be peaceful and rational ... there should have been substantial measures, so people can be confident about restoring social order," Lee says.


Biggest pro-Beijing party disappointed with policy address

New People’s Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee says Carrie Lam has failed to address fundamental issues in her policy address, such as the erosion of the city's competitiveness and education policies. But she adds that she understands Lam could only focus on limited areas including housing, amid the unprecedented political crisis in the city. 
On relaxing mortgage ceilings, Ip's party colleague Eunice Yung expresses worries that even if young homeowners can afford the down payment, they may still face difficulties forking out the monthly mortgage. 


Regina Ip: Lam failed to address fundamentals

Felix Chung Kwok-pan from the Liberal Party says there is little expectation of the measures in the policy address helping businesses. He urges the government to push the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to relax mortgage rules if the administration truly wants to help small and medium enterprises with their cash flow. He says he gives Lam's policies a marginal pass. 


'A marginal pass' for Lam's announced policies

Around town, people are picking up copies of the policy address, which is packaged in a light blue cover. Photos by Felix Wong. 





Eyes on policy address booklet

In a post on social media, Lam says she will be taking questions from people who leave comments on that entry, with her answers coming at 8pm tomorrow (Thursday) in a bid to "chat" with internet users. 
