Donald Tsang, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said in Hong Kong Wednesday (Oct 11th) that the success of Hong Kong can be found in pragmatism.

"Some mistook our stopping to use the term 'positive non-interventionism' as a shift, or a U-turn, in our policy. This is not the case," he told the Legislative Council while delivering his policy address.

He acknowledged that his recent remarks on pragmatic politics and his philosophy of public finance had aroused some public discussion.

Tsang stressed that it was his intention to provide people with a better idea of the government's role and values, while trying to gauge their expectations of the government, in order to reach consensus.

"For the sake of effective governance, I have always believed that we have to keep our feet firmly on the ground, and not be hamstrung by ideology or slogans," he noted.

At present, globalization and the rise of China as a whole are the two major changes influencing Hong Kong, he said, noting that this calls for pragmatic and concrete discussions on the government's role in various economic sectors.

The government's role and level of participation in the economic development of different sectors has varied over time to meet changing circumstances, he said.

Tsang said he welcome public discussion on when and to what extent the government should ever intervene in the market, under the rubric of "Big Market, Small Government" and public expenditure not exceeding 20 percent of GDP.

"These discussions would be far more profitable than prolonging philosophical debates over abstract slogans or terminology," he noted.

Editor: Donald