Hong Kong urged to make Northern Metropolis ‘special zone' to speed up work
Advertisement
Starry Lee Wai-king, a member of the
National People's Congress Standing Committee, also discussed mounting criticism of CK Hutchison Holdings over its Panama Canal ports sale with key Beijing offices posting scathing commentaries about it, saying businesses should keep the country's interests in mind when making deals.
In an interview televised on Sunday, Lee noted the slow pace of construction in the Northern Metropolis, especially the Hong Kong part of a new innovation hub co-developed with Shenzhen in Hetao.
'The Northern Metropolis should become a 'special zone within the Special Administrative Region' and have a special approval process,' said Lee, who recently returned from Beijing after attending the country's key annual political meetings, known as the 'two sessions'.
'For example, it usually takes 10 years to build a railway or three years to complete the bidding. Can we make it happen in one year if needed?'
Advertisement
The government's Northern Metropolis blueprint aims to transform 30,000 hectares (74,130 acres) in the New Territories into a new economic growth centre and housing hub.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China-Japan ties are improving. Could a Taiwanese official test that trend?
At this year's commemorations in Japan for the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was a major departure from the past Seated among the attendees in both cities was Lee Yi-yang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, the island's de facto embassy in the country. At the Nagasaki event on Saturday, Lee sat with representatives from international non-government organisations, 'inappropriate seating arrangements' that he attributed to pressure from Beijing, according to Taiwanese media reports. Nevertheless, a Taiwanese official has never attended these events before and, after the ceremony in Hiroshima on Wednesday, Lee said the island hoped to have a presence there every year. Lee's appearance is part of a bigger effort by Taiwan to strengthen its unofficial bonds with Tokyo and raise the island's international profile. Observers said Beijing would take a dim view of the participation, but both it and Tokyo would be careful to not undermine improving relations. 04:57 Hiroshima 80 years on: Japan keeps legacy of the first atomic bomb attack alive Hiroshima 80 years on: Japan keeps legacy of the first atomic bomb attack alive Lee's attendance at the Hiroshima and Nagasaki events came two weeks after Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung made a rare visit to Japan.
RTHK
17 hours ago
- RTHK
Seoul sees signs of North reciprocity on loudspeakers
Seoul sees signs of North reciprocity on loudspeakers A South Korean soldier dismantles a loudspeaker system near the demiltarized zone in Paju in June. File photo: Reuters North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea's military said on Saturday, days after Seoul's new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarised zone, Seoul's military said in June after the election of President Lee Jae Myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. South Korea's defence ministry said on Monday it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as "a practical measure aimed at helping ease tensions with the North". South Korea had been blaring K-pop and news reports to the North in response to Pyongyang transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean locals. But under Lee's administration, in June, Seoul halted the loudspeaker broadcasts and in turn, a day later, North Korea stopped their broadcasts as well. "The South Korean military has detected North Korean troops dismantling propaganda loudspeakers in some parts along the front line from this morning," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Saturday. "It remains to be confirmed whether the devices have been removed across all regions, and the military will continue to monitor related activities," they added. Seoul had begun the loudspeaker broadcasts last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown south by Pyongyang. The North had sent thousands of the balloons southwards at that time, saying they were retaliation for propaganda balloons launched by South Korean activists. Relations between the two Koreas had been at one of their lowest points in years, under the South's then-president Yoon Suk-yeol, with Seoul taking a hard line towards Pyongyang, which has drawn ever closer to Moscow in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Lee has taken a different approach in dealing with the North since his June election, including requesting civic groups to stop sending anti-North propaganda leaflets. Lee has also said he would seek talks with the North without preconditions, following a deep freeze under his predecessor. The two countries technically remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. (AFP)
HKFP
21 hours ago
- HKFP
‘We can't pull out': Taiwan's orchid growers dig in as US tariffs shoot up
Since the start of US President Donald Trump's global trade war, Taiwanese orchid grower Lee Tsang-yu has watched tariffs on his seedlings shoot from nothing to 20 percent. But, after weathering many economic crises, the 61-year-old seasoned farmer is digging in. Lee is cultivating new markets in Thailand and expanding in Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil, while cutting back shipments to the United States. 'The US is such a huge market, we can't pull out, and we won't,' said Lee, whose company, Charming Agriculture, operates four rugby field-sized greenhouses in Houbi, a district of the southern city of Tainan. Taiwan's more than 300 orchid growers rank among the world's biggest producers of the thick-leaved plants, with Phalaenopsis orchids, also known as moth orchids, dominating exports. The island's orchid shipments reached NT$6.1 billion (US$204 million) in 2024, with about NT$2 billion worth of plants sent to the United States, its biggest market, official data shows. Until now, most growers have been absorbing the cost of the 10 percent tariff that Trump slapped on nearly every trading partner in April, said Ahby Tseng, 53, secretary-general of the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association. But 'no one can bear' all of Trump's temporary 20 percent levy on Taiwan announced last week, he said. Tseng said Taiwan's main rival in the United States was the Netherlands, which has been hit with a relatively lighter 15 percent tariff. The five percentage point difference is significant, he said. 'It is actually very difficult to immediately pass the cost on to consumers because consumers can choose not to buy, or they can choose to buy other types of flowers,' Tseng said. And stockpiling orchids in a warehouse wasn't an option given that the plants 'keep growing'. While the higher tariff would erode his bottom line, Lee said he was more concerned about the general state of the US economy since Trump took office. 'Everything has become more expensive in the US, and consumer spending is shrinking — that's what worries me,' he said. 'Since late May, we've already cut shipments by 15 percent. Before that, the US accounted for 45 percent of our exports.' Lee said he was optimistic his efforts to expand into other markets, though slow and not always as lucrative, would 'gradually offset this impact'. Taiwan's orchids also had a competitive edge, he said — their flowers could last longer than Dutch plants.
