But on the similar time, Prof. Assoc Wu additionally cautioned in opposition to giving an excessive amount of weight to the possibly political nature of the latest sackings, highlighting the “more and more opaque” nature of Hong Kong’s political panorama.
“Sometimes it is extremely troublesome (to learn),” mentioned Assoc Professor Wu, additionally suggesting that Hong Kong’s political trajectories have been identified to vary.
The dismissal and substitute of Cabinet members isn’t a brand new phenomenon in Hong Kong, he added.
“The substitute isn’t an odd factor or one thing that occurs all of the sudden,” mentioned Assoc Professor Wu, additionally stressing that former chief government Carrie Lam “did the identical factor” and that these are modifications that they might “occur within the medium time period”.
During Lam’s tenure, six ministers have been eliminated or resigned in a serious reshuffle, and Lam described herself as “the chief government who changed many of the officers.”
The political appointments system, launched by former chief government Tung Chee-hwa in 2002, marked a shift in direction of better political accountability, as appointees have been anticipated to take duty for political outcomes.
Since its institution, 14 ministers have resigned or been fired.
Yeung and Lam are the primary dismissals since Lee was appointed in 2022.
The prof. Assoc Wu believes their dismissals have been extra of a strategic and “administrative” determination.
“Fundamentally, Hong Kong isn’t a city-state the place one individual makes the ultimate determination. There are lots of actors,” he mentioned, including that he thought Mr Lee was “sensible in the best way he approached the scenario”.
GIVING PRIORITY TO TOURISM
Hong Kong’s once-profitable tourism sector has struggled to get better from the lack of guests resulting from pro-democracy protests and, later, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Visitor numbers reached 34 million final yr, simply 52% of the entire in 2018.
However, the town has lately managed to regain its place as Asia’s main monetary middle and rose to fifth place within the international monetary middle index.
It additionally achieved one other vital milestone in tourism restoration: welcoming a million Filipino guests by 2024.
“Tourism patterns have modified because the pandemic,” Lam Chi-ting, vice-president of the journey committee of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, informed CNA. “Attracting guests now requires new methods, creating immense stress for these in cost.”
