LCQ1: Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China
21.2.2024

âFollowing is a question by the Hon Chan Yung (Hon Vincent Cheng to ask on his behalf) and a reply by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, in the Legislative Council today (February 21): Question: There are views that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which holds exceptional significance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) whether it will set up a high-level steering group to oversee the relevant promotional and celebratory events; if so, of the expected time to commence work; (2) of the key events and specific plans to be put in place to celebrate the National Day; and (3) how it will encourage the active participation of various sectors and classes of society together? Reply: President, On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) proclaimed its founding. This great event completely changed the history of modern China, which had been poor, weak and bullied by others. The Chinese nation has since embarked on a broad path to achieve great rejuvenation. For more than 70 years, Chinese people of all ethnic groups have embraced struggles and worked hard together with one heart and one mind, making great achievements that have impressed the world. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has all along attached great importance to the celebration of the important historical milestone of the founding of the PRC. Every year, the HKSAR Government celebrates the National Day with the public and promotes patriotism and national pride through a series of activities and publicity programmes. My consolidated reply in response to the questions raised by the Hon Chan Yung is as follows: The anniversary of the founding of the PRC has always been an important event for the HKSAR. As the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, this year's October 1 anniversary is all the more significant and manifests the glorious achievements of our country from standing up, growing prosperous to becoming strong under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, thereby building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In order to properly implement the activities and programmes to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of our country, the Chief Executive has instructed the Chief Secretary for Administration (CS) to lead the various bureaux and departments in making preparations for the National Day celebrations. In this connection, the CS has given instructions at the meetings of the Steering Committee on District Governance and the Task Force on District Governance held in January 2024, asking all bureaux and departments to make concerted efforts to plan and take forward the preparatory work for the National Day celebrations on all fronts, with a view to creating a colourful and enthusiastic National Day atmosphere and cultivating people's sense of patriotism at different levels of the community. As instructed by the CS, apart from the key programmes such as the annual large-scale National Day reception, flag-raising ceremony, variety show and fireworks display, all bureaux and their departments will plan an array of celebratory activities rich in content and diversity under their respective areas, with a view to enabling more members of the public from different backgrounds and age groups to take part and share the joy of the National Day. In addition, the 18 District Offices under the Home Affairs Department will work with their respective District Councils to organise key National Day celebratory events with local characteristics in various districts to share the joy with the public. Apart from fostering patriotic sentiments, the HKSAR Government will also organise a series of thematic National Day celebratory events to showcase to all visitors from the Mainland and other places the unique advantages and attractions of Hong Kong in terms of the staunch support we receive from the Motherland and our global outlook. Various bureaux and departments have progressively commenced early-stage preparatory work for National Day celebrations this year, including planning and preparing for relevant publicity arrangements. Moreover, bureaux and departments will plan for displays of a wider variety of publicity materials in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC at their venues and buildings, and step up the scale and creativity of their festive decorations at popular and iconic locations, so as to jointly foster an intense festive ambience, promote the spirit of patriotism and mobilise the active participation of all sectors of the community in celebrating the National Day together. The Steering Committee on District Governance chaired by the CS and the Task Force on District Governance chaired by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration will continue to serve as the high-level steering structures of the HKSAR Government's preparatory work for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, and guide and co-ordinate the efforts of various bureaux and departments in the preparations for and implementation of various activities and publicity programmes in celebrating the National Day. The National Day is an occasion for celebration by the entire nation. The HKSAR Government believes that different sectors and organisations in society will actively echo and show support correspondingly, such as organising various activities and rolling out different offers in their respective areas, in an effort to contribute to celebrating the important festive occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. The HKSAR Government is confident that, with the strong and united support of the whole society, the celebrations will be smoothly organised, thereby bringing joyful colours and pride to Hong Kong on October 1 this year.