The first fiscal budget is released, the fiscal deficit is high, and the “candy pie” is reduced
Financial Secretary Chen Maobo released the first budget of the Li Jiachao team on the 22nd. This fiscal year will record a deficit of 139.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, 2.5 times the original budget, and become the second highest fiscal deficit in history. Affected by this, the Hong Kong government has reduced the scale of “candy distribution” this year, and the intensity of reducing and exempting various fees has also decreased compared with last year.
The Hong Kong government will continue to issue electronic consumer vouchers to citizens this year, but the amount will be halved from last year’s 10,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan. As for eligible persons living in Hong Kong and studying in Hong Kong through different immigration schemes, a total of 2,500 yuan of consumption coupons will be issued.
Chen Maobo also announced a 100% reduction in salaries tax and personal assessment tax for the tax year 2022 to 2023, with a ceiling of 6,000 yuan, which is nearly half of last year’s 10,000 yuan.
In addition, there are also a number of relief measures, including the payment of CSSA standard amount, old age allowance, old age living allowance or disability allowance to eligible persons receiving social security amount, as well as subsidies for public transportation fees, electricity charges, etc. .
Affected by the reduction of land prices and stamp duty, Hong Kong’s public finances are not as expected. It is expected that the comprehensive deficit in 2022-2023 will be 139.8 billion yuan, which is higher than the original estimate of about 56 billion yuan, and the fiscal reserve will drop to 817.3 billion yuan. In 2023/24, a deficit of 54.4 billion will continue to be recorded, and fiscal reserves will further decline to 762.9 billion.
Chen Maobo pointed out that Hong Kong’s overall economy will contract by 3.5% in 2022. Looking ahead, Hong Kong’s economy is expected to “rebound strongly”, and the real economic growth in 2023 will be 3.5% to 5.5%. Hong Kong’s budget is expected to return to surplus by the 2024/25 financial year.
In response to the continued deterioration of the “talent shortage” caused by the intensification of the immigration wave, the “Budget” stated that it is necessary to “grab talents” and “grab enterprises” and introduce measures such as a new investment immigration plan. At the same time, it also said that it is necessary to retain local talents and strengthen talent training.
In recent years, Hong Kong’s international image has deteriorated. In the “Budget”, Chen Maobo emphasized the need to “province Hong Kong’s brand name”. Under the high deficit, 100 million yuan is still set aside to improve Hong Kong’s international image. The Tourism Board will also receive an additional 2.5 100 million yuan to organize and assist in the promotion of “Happy Hong Kong” (Happy Hong Kong) and other series of activities.
At the same time, the Hong Kong government has allocated additional resources to various departments for media promotion, including an increase of about 10% of the budget for the “Hong Kong version of the party media” Radio Hong Kong, and an increase of more than 280 million yuan to overseas economic and trade offices.
Chen Maobo announced in 2021 that a one-off sum of 8 billion yuan will be allocated to deal with expenditures related to “maintaining national security” in the “next few years”. However, this year, like last year, he has not released a national security budget, nor has he announced a national security budget like other governments. Departments generally account for the purpose of funds. Some Hong Kong media quoted government sources as saying that the national security expenditure will be announced at an “appropriate time”.
In addition, among the six major disciplined services, except for the Government Flying Service, which has decreased by 12% year-on-year to $616.1 million, the expenditure budget of the five will increase by 3.7% to 7.5% in the coming year. Among them, customs has the largest increase, with an expenditure budget of 5.8357 billion yuan; the police force, which spends the most among the disciplined forces, increased its expenditure by 6.1% to 26.8411 billion yuan.
The Democratic Party held a press conference in the afternoon to respond to the budget, saying that “there is nothing new, but there are no surprises, and no surprises.”
The party chairman Luo Jianxi said that he welcomes the continued distribution of consumer coupons, but believes that the amount of consumer coupons is not enough, and asks for an increase to 15,000 Hong Kong dollars per person. He also mentioned that some citizens were surprised by the promotion of “Happy Hong Kong”, saying that if Hong Kong people are to be happy, they must feel the freedom of life, whether it is financial freedom or other freedom of expression.
Huang Weiguo, former assistant professor of politics and international relations at Hong Kong Baptist University, criticized the Hong Kong government for spending a lot of money to save its image as futile. He told Free Asia that a large number of pro-Beijing groups have recently used the name of “civil society groups” to “wash white” in the United Nations and sing the “Hong Kong National Security Law”, which has seriously damaged Hong Kong’s reputation. No matter how much the Hong Kong government spends on beautifying the packaging, it cannot “whitewash” the fact that Hong Kong is completely controlled by the CCP.
CUHK “reproduces” Qian Mu’s “expression of nostalgia”
The circular plaza of New Asia College of Chinese University recently staged a “Patriotic” program, and used AI technology to “recreate” Qian Mu, a sage of New Asia College at CUHK and a master of Chinese studies, with an “anti-communist” stand, which aroused criticism from the outside world.
On the evening of the 20th, at the square of the New Asia College of Chinese University, the Wuxi Overseas Friendship Association hosted a “Music, Poetry and Painting Performance” called “Like an Old Man Comes”. On the basis of poetry recitations, the event added soundtracks and performance images, and at the end, all the chorus sang “Singing the Motherland”, making people feel like they were on the scene of the “Spring Festival Gala”.
One of the links is to use AI, dubbing, and holographic projection technology to reproduce the audio and video of Qian Mu, the sage of New Asia on the spot. The party media “Wen Wei Po” called it “letting Qian Mu express his nostalgia at the scene and send a message about the cooperation between Wuxi and Hong Kong.”
Luo Ziwei, the former vice president of foreign affairs of the Chinese University Student Union, told Free Asia that an important concept of the “New Asia Spirit” is to have backbone and ambition, and “we will persevere through hardships and dangers.” However, in order to flatter Beijing, CUHK and New Asia College It’s ironic and I’m sorry for New Asia’s founding declaration.
Luo Ziwei pointed out that Mr. Qian Mu founded the New Asia Academy to “inherit Chinese culture and fight against the Communist Party to save the country.” It is absolutely not to cooperate with the current CCP.
Tao Jie, a well-known Hong Kong columnist and current commentator, also said that what Qian Mu loves is China, which has a cultural history of 3,000 years. New Asia’s program is a united front approach. If the Chinese University really understands Qian Mu’s true spirit, it can also tell people in Wuxi what kind of person Qian Mu is.
Qian Mu, formerly known as Enfeng, courtesy name Binsi, was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province in 1895. In his early years, he studied hard by himself and devoted himself to historical research. Later, he was recommended to Yenching University as a lecturer of Chinese, teaching Chinese ancient history and Qin and Han history.
During his stay in Beijing, Qian Mu successively taught at prestigious universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Yenching University, and Peking Normal University. He was rated as one of the most famous professors at Peking University by students.
In 1949, when some intellectuals went north from Hong Kong to welcome the “birth of new China”, Qian Mu had a premonition that there would be no room for him in the red China, so he went south to Hong Kong with the private Huaqiao University in Guangzhou to become the dean of the “Asia College of Arts and Commerce” , later changed its name to “New Asia College”, so that exiled youths from China, for example, could continue to study.
Qian Mu once publicly wrote an article in the school magazine, pointing out: “The school was founded in the autumn of 1949. At that time, because the Communist Party deliberately destroyed the culture of the country in mainland China, the school specially took the development of Chinese culture as the highest purpose of education. …Under today’s democratic and totalitarian struggles, Chinese youth should have a correct ideological understanding, so as not to go astray, which not only damages their own future, but also damages the country, the nation and the peace of the world.”
Qian Mu, Hu Shi, and Fu Sinian were named and criticized by Mao Zedong as “a very small number of people” who can be controlled by “the reactionary Chinese government of imperialism and its lackeys”.
The Russo-Ukraine war is approaching its first anniversary and has so far killed more than 8,000 civilians. At the end of last month, three British immigrants from Hong Kong participated in a secret operation, spanning 2,400 kilometers, and spent 5 days driving supplies to Ukraine to express their support for the Ukrainian people affected by the war.
According to the reports of “Chasing News” and “The Points”, there were more than 30 convoys in this operation. They set off from the UK and traveled across many countries. It took 5 days to deliver the supplies to Lviv, an important town in the rear of western Ukraine.
Team volunteers include 25 British and Europeans, mainly retired British soldiers. Former Tai Po district councilor Yao Yuesheng (Manson) and two other Hong Kong immigrants, Alex and “Fei Da”, are the only three Hong Kong residents.
The 37-year-old Manson avoided Qin Yiying with his family the year before last. He said that seeing the Russia-Ukraine war reminded him inexplicably of the scene of the Hong Kong demonstrators confronting the police in 2019 and the flames blazing. Therefore, I want to let the Ukrainians know through this action that Hong Kong people have not forgotten them and are still standing with them against evil. “Stand with Ukraine is not just (not just) a slogan, it must be done when it is said (speaking).” At the same time, I also hope to make an effort for the free and democratic world as a Hong Kong person.
Manson revealed that during the trip, he received several air raid alerts and felt the threat of war. When the supplies arrived in Lviv, the local Ukrainians were very surprised that Hong Kong people took the risk to deliver the supplies. Although they couldn’t speak the language, the other party showed a grateful expression.
Alex, another Hong Kong national involved in the operation, has been in the UK for two years. He described that coming to the UK was like God giving him a chance to “start a new life”. Although his family was not rich and his income in the UK was not stable, when he learned that the volunteer group responsible for this operation hoped to deliver the supplies After arriving in Ukraine, he immediately agreed to participate, hoping to provide a little help to Ukrainians who were also suffering.
Alex encouraged overseas Hong Kong people, “I can do it, and everyone can do it! And if everyone can do it, local people will see it, and then the support for the Hong Kong community will be stronger. More and more! (Keep) Hope!”
