During a meeting with the 12 local deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing Wednesday, Vice Premier Han Zheng listed “four hopes” for Macau’s civil society, such as to actively participate in events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland and to support the current local government’s work to ensure the smooth transition to the next one, local NPC deputy José Chui Sai Peng told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting at the Great Hall of the People.
José Chui Sai Peng is a member of the Macau Legislative Assembly (AL).
The delegation of the 12 local NPC deputies, who are attending the ongoing second session of the 13th NPC, held a working meeting, during which six local NPC deputies made speeches on various topics, such as about Macau’s participation in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The ongoing second session of the 13th NPC, which started on Tuesday, will end on Friday next week. The 13th NPC is in session from 2018 to 2023, with the first session held in March last year. Each NPC term has five sessions. The annual session is customarily held in March every year. The last session of the 13th NPC is slated to be held in March 2022.
Han, 64, is one of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee – the nation’s top governing body, officially known as the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Community Party of China (CPC).
Han, who ranks first among the four vice-premiers of the State Council, attended the meeting of the local NPC delegation – headed by Macau Legislative Assembly President Ho Iat Seng – at the Great Hall of the People.
Ho, the only member of the NPC Standing Committee from Macau, has said that he is “actively and prudently” considering running for Macau’s highest post in this summer’s chief executive election.
Ho, 61, is a businessman, lawmaker and community leader.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chui Sai Peng said that Han raised four “hopes” for Macau’s civil society during the meeting.
The first hope is for the various segments of Macau’s civil society to actively participate in events celebrating the upcoming 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and to strengthen the spirit of loving the country and Macau, Chui quoted Han as saying in the meeting.
According to Chui, the second hope is for Macau’s civil society to support the local government’s work to organise the upcoming chief executive election and the local outgoing government’s work to ensure the smooth transition to the incoming local government, such as by supporting the current local government in carrying out its duties and the new chief executive-elect in setting up his or her leadership team.
Macau’s next chief executive and other principal officials are scheduled to be sworn in on December 20. According to unconfirmed media reports, President Xi Jinping will pay a working visit to Macau at that time and preside over the swearing-in ceremony.
The third hope raised by Han is for Macau’s civil society to support the adequate diversification of the city’s economy and regional cooperation, including Macau’s participation in the development of Hengqin Island in Zhuhai and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) conurbation project, Chui quoted Han as saying.
The fourth hope is for civil society to actively support Macau’s young people in pursuing their personal growth and development, such as by creating better conditions for them to tackle difficulties they could be facing in their academic studies, employment and start of a business, according to Chui.(Macaunews)
