Chinese President Jiang Zemin Monday attended the celebrations for the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland and the inauguration of the second-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.
At 8:57 a.m., accompanied by Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa and his wife Betty Tung, and amid a burst of enthusiastic applause, Jiang and his wife Wang Yeping entered the Grand Hall, where the ceremony of China's resumption of exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong was held in 1997.
At 9:00 a.m., a 50-member white-uniformed Hong Kong police band played the national anthem to kick off the celebrations.
The five-star red flag of the nation and the regional flag of the Hong Kong SAR were hung above the rostrum. Hundreds of pots of flowers were placed on and around the rostrum.
Two giant TV screens flanking the rostrum are broadcasting ceremony proceedings live.
Among those present were Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and his wife Zhou Hanqiong, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee Henry Ying Tung Fok, Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah of the Macao SAR, leaders of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR, the Office of Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairsin the Hong Kong SAR, and the PLA Hong Kong Garrison.
More than 2,000 guests also attended the celebrations.
Under the supervision of Jiang, Tung Chee Hwa was sworn in as his second term of the chief executive.
Tung walked to the rostrum, facing the national flag and the regional flag, and raised his right hand. He said, "I, upon assuming the office of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, pledge to uphold the Basic Law of the HKSAR of the People's Republic of China (PRC), be loyal to the HKSAR of the PRC, fulfill my duties wholeheartedly, abide by laws, be clean and honest, serve the HKSAR, and be responsible for the PRC and the HKSAR."
Tung has won the election for his second term of the chief executive with the support of over 90 percent of the Election Committee members in February and officially appointed by the central government. He has been widely acclaimed for ensuring Hong Kong’s smooth transition and having successfully implemented the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.
(People's Daily July 1, 2002)
