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2010's

2010
January 1—About 1,000 people—a relatively low turnout—held a New Year's demonstration at the central government's liaison office to demand that Beijing soon grant full autonomy to Hong Kong.

January 8—Several thousand protesters gathered outside the Legislative Council building to oppose funding for the planned HK$66.9 billion (US$8.63 billion) express rail link to Shenzhen and Guangzhou on grounds it doesn't serve Hong Kong's interests and is too costly.

January 16—The legislature approved construction of the rail link, which is scheduled for completion in 2015. Officials claimed that tactics of several thousand young protesters had "seriously undermined" the rule of law.

The Disneyland theme park, 52% owned by the government, admitted operating losses for the first time: HK$1.32 billion (US$170 million) in 2009 and HK$1.57 billion (US$203 million) in 2008.

January 23—The government said developers completed only 7,200 new homes in 2009, the lowest figure for 38 years, while the average home price rose 30%.

January 26—Five pan-democratic Legco members resigned to force by-elections in each of Hong Kong's geographical constituencies. They will seek re-election in campaigns they said should be considered a public referendum on whether voters want faster movement toward universal suffrage. Both the Hong Kong and Chinese governments have denounced the tactic. Several government allies said they will boycott the elections in an effort to limit their significance.                 

February 22—The government said by-elections in the five geographical constituencies will be held May 18.

February 24—Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah announced the government's fiscal 2010-2011 budget estimates and revised estimates for 2009-2010. He said operating expenditure for the current year will be HK$236 billion (US$30.45 billion), slightly less than expected and leaving a surplus of HK$19 billion (US$2.45 billion). For the coming year, he forecast revenues of HK$292 billion (US$37.67 billion) and an operating deficit of HK$3.8 billion (US$49 million). Specific policy changes included a one-time income tax reduction of 75% for most wage earners; reductions in property tax; increased social welfare payments; and higher payments to students who receive government aid. Several other measures, including a higher stamp tax on expensive homes, were designed to restrain the property market. Government critics said the budget failed to provide adequate relief for low income residents.

March 1—The Tourism Board predicted that 31 million people will visit Hong Kong during 2010, up 5% from last year.

March 2—The 27-story Murray Building, home to official offices since construction 40 years ago, will be converted into a luxury hotel after the new government headquarters at Tamar opens in 2011.

March 13—The U.S. State Department's annual human rights report said Hong Kong gives "disproportionate political influence" to certain sectors of the community and limits the public's right to change the government.

March 14—The Chinese central government said it could not give firm promises that universal suffrage will be introduced for elections in 2017 and 2020. It said this could not be done before the Hong Kong government and political parties agree on revised election rules for 2012.

March 18—The unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, the lowest since late 2008.

March 22—Nominations opened for the five Legco by-elections scheduled for May 16. They will close April 8.

March 24—Graham Sheffield, artistic director of London's Barbican Centre, was named chief executive of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, the HK$21 billion (US$2.7 billion) arts center planned for a new development area.

March 29—The government announced plans to introduce stricter laws requiring listed companies to disclose price-sensitive information more freely in an effort to curtail insider trading on the stock market. Violators could be fined up to US$1 million.

March 30—Hong Kong reached a comprehensive free trade agreement with New Zealand, the first with an economy outside China.

March 31—The government announced creation of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Cooperation and Promotion Council to encourage improved and more substantive relations between the two regions.

 April 7—The Hong Kong and Guangdong governments signed a new agreement on cross-border economic cooperation.  It is designed to increase joint efforts in such fields as finance, the environment and infrastructure projects. The agreement is also intended to integrate the Hong Kong economy into the mainland's five year development plan more closely.

April 8—Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, chief judge of the High Court, has been named chief justice, succeeding Andrew Li Kwok-nang, who has resigned effective in August.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visited Hong Kong to meet local officials, including those who advise the central government on monetary affairs. The U.S. is trying to persuade China to let the yuan's exchange rate strengthen.

April 14—The government announced its political reform plans for the 2012 elections of chief executive and Legislative Council. The main changes, which were expected, would increase the election committee that selects the chief executive to 1200 members from 800, and would expand Legco to70 members from 60—with half, as at present, to be chosen by direct election and half by special interest groups called functional constituencies. The five new functional constituency seats would be filled by elected members of District Councils, local government bodies. Voting for these five, via a proportional representation system, would be limited to the 405 elected members of these councils, and not by members of business, finance or other special interest groups. (The 102 appointed council members would not be eligible to vote.) The government package needs a two-thirds vote of the present Legco to become law. Most pro-democracy groups called the plan inadequate and said they would vote against it.

April 21—The government announced measures to curb property speculation. They include increased stamp duty on homes selling for more than HK$20 million (US$258,000) and increased sales of land for residential development.

April 22—Consumer prices rose at a 2% annual rate in March, or 0.8% on a year-on-year basis.

April 27—Exports for March rose 32.1% , the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year growth.

May 12—A government study said 850,000 residents have incomes below the official poverty line, an increase of 19% during the first nine months of 2009. This is equal to about 11% of Hong Kong's population.

May 15—The economy grew by an annual 8.2% rate during the year's first quarter, and by 2.4% during the year ended March 31. Government economists said the overall 2010 increase might exceed the official forecast of 5%. 

May 16—By-elections in the five geographical Legco districts saw all five incumbents returned to office in a low turn-out. Two pro-democracy parties had called the vote in hopes of turning it into a de facto referendum on the need for universal suffrage and against the government's plan for limited electoral reforms, but pro-government parties declined to contest the elections. Analysts differed on whether the 579,000 turnout—17.1% of eligible voters—constituted victory or defeat for the democratic side.

May 20—A group of compromise-minded democratic politicians met with senior officials of the central government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong to discuss possible liberalization of the government's electoral reform package. They hoped Beijing would accept changes that would produce the two-thirds approval vote in Legco needed to make it law. This marked the first time such talks were held, but no definitive agreements were reached.

June 2—Police released two Goddess of Liberty statues they had seized earlier, and said activists could display them in Victoria Park, site of the annual memorial demonstration marking the 1989 Tien An Men killings. The vice chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a member of a mainland political body, said its students should be "neutral" and initially banned placement of a similar statue there; he later relented. By contrast, the University of Hong Kong vice chancellor said his students have the right to express diverse political views. However, authorities refused to allow the designer of the original 1989 statue into Hong Kong for unstated reasons; now a New Zealand citizen, he was stopped at the airport and returned to the U.S., where he lives.

 

June 4—A surprisingly large and peaceful crowd rallied in Victoria Park to commemorate the 1989 Tien An Men incident. Police said they totaled 113,000 people—the highest total ever it has ever estimated—while organizers said 150,000 were present.  

The Hong Kong and Chinese governments agreed to expanded cooperation under their Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Officials said the most important changes affect medical services, including the right of Hong Kong entities to establish hospitals on the mainland; tourism; banking; securities; construction; air transport; distribution; product testing and related services; audiovisual services and specialty design.

June 17—The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, up from the previous 4.4% and the first increase since mid-2009.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee held a one-hour televised debate on the merits of the government's pending political reform bill. Most analysts called Eu the most effective speaker but said the debate probably didn't change any Legco votes.

June 20—A large crowd rallied in Victoria Park in support of the government's election reform plan. Police put the total at 70,000 while organizers said it was 120,000.

June 21—The government said it will revise election reform plans by increasing the "democratic element", following talks between pro-democracy politicians and central government officials. The main change affects the planned five new functional constituency seats to be filled by elected members of District Councils. Rather than have the five chosen by the 405 elected members of these local government bodies, as originally planned, they will be chosen by all eligible Hong Kong voters, excluding the 200,000 or so who already vote in other functional constituency elections. This means every eligible resident can vote twice—once in a geographic district for directly-elected Legco members and once in a functional constituency, with most relegated to selecting the five District Council members who will join Legco if the measure passes. The result would be a 70-member Legco with 40 members chosen by the general public. Analysts said the change should allow the total package to win legislative approval.

June 24—Legco passed by a 46-13 vote a government proposal to expand the election committee that will choose the next chief executive in 2012 to 1200 members from the present 800.

June 25—Legco approved by a 46-12 margin a second government resolution to revise rules for the 2012 elections. Under its terms, Legco will be expanded to 70 members from the present 60, with five of the new seats filled by popular voting in Hong Kong's five geographical districts, and the other five candidates—who must be elected members of District Councils—chosen by the 93% of the public that does not already have a second vote in a functional constituency. This means that 40 of the 70 seats will be chosen by popular ballot, and reflects a concession by the Beijing and Hong Kong governments which originally favored a more restrictive method of adding those five seats to the legislature.

July 1—The annual demonstration on behalf of local democracy and other social issues drew 52,000 marchers according to the organizers, 20,000 according to police and 22,400 according to a University of Hong Kong poll. All agreed the total was down sharply from last year, probably due to uncertainty about the pace of democratization and an unusually hot day.

 

07/01/2010