Li Ka-shing vows support for Hong Kong political development

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Cheung Kong chairman Li Ka-shing shake hands during their meeting in Beijing on Monday. Photo: CCTV

Sep 24, 2014
 

Li Ka-shing vows support for Hong

Kong political development

More Hong Kong businessmen are willing to contribute to the city’s political development with the introduction of universal suffrage in the election of the next chief executive, Cheung Kong chairman Li Ka-shing said.

Speaking during a symposium attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and representatives of the city’s business elite on Monday, Li said he believes Hong Kong people in general are patriotic while Beijing has been supportive of the territory’s development since the sovereignty handover in 1997, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reported on Wednesday.

The symposium addressed Hong Kong’s political development as well as conflicts between mainlanders and Hong Kong people, the report said.

Li said previously that he would like to see progress in Hong Kong’s political development.

Eight of the Hong Kong delegates delivered speeches during their meeting with the Chinese leader. While most spoke about three minutes each, Henderson Land chairman Lee Shau-kee gave the longest speech, lasting for about 15 minutes, according to the newspaper.

The delegation, led by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, left Beijing on Tuesday.

None of the delegates answered reporters’ questions about the ongoing boycott of classes by students protesting Beijing’s proposed electoral reform framework for 2017, except Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers chairman Wong Kwan-yu, the report said.