Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor left for Shanghai on Tuesday morning - her first visit to the eastern metropolis as head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its government. After Shanghai she will visit Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province and home to world-renowned e-commerce giant Alibaba.com, where she will meet with the pioneering company's corporate leaders and discuss ways for Hong Kong to join forces with the online business giant in playing a prominent role in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative. This visit is another step forward in Lam's plan to seek and create more opportunities for Hong Kong businesses to establish new revenue channels and in turn contribute to the SAR's economic growth as a whole.

Lam made it clear during her CE election campaign and upon taking office that her top priority as head of the SAR government will be boosting economic development and improving people's well-being. So far she has taken a series of steps toward these goals despite dogged attempts by the opposition camp to block or disrupt her plans. Many local residents hoped against hope the opposition groups would exercise more restraint, since Lam's popularity is so apparent and the public support for her is nothing short of overwhelming. It's a great shame the opposition parties have chosen to further alienate themselves from Hong Kong society rather than respect popular wishes.

One might argue that the government has pushed the opposition camp almost over the edge by successfully disqualifying six of their lawmakers in recent months with two separate judicial reviews that convinced the High Court those opposition politicians violated the Basic Law of the HKSAR and relevant Hong Kong laws while taking the Legislative Council oath last October. But no one can deny the court decisions were based entirely on solid facts, not to mention they were applauded by the great majority of Hong Kong people. There have been other cases in which opposition members were found guilty of such offenses as disturbing peace with violence and sentenced to various prison terms. In all those cases justice was done as Hong Kong law demands it and opposition parties have only themselves to blame for choosing to challenge the rule of law rather than respect it.

The SAR government led by Lam is doing its best to improve people's livelihood by boosting economic development through continued integration with the national economy using its own strengths as well as cooperation with its mainland counterparts. That is why most Hong Kong residents support her strategy to focus on resolving some of the most pressing issues facing the city. The opposition should know better than making themselves a public enemy and abandon their destructive ploys completely.

(HK Edition 08/23/2017 page7)