‘Hong Kong has lived up to expectations,’ Beijing says in New Year message

Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs said on New Year’s Day that the city’s administration had lived up to expectations, stressing its effective response to the deadly Tai Po fire showed unity and resilience. Acknowledging President Xi Jinping’s New Year wishes for the city, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also pledged in a social media post on Thursday that the city must focus on its priorities, promote high-quality development, further deepen reforms and open up. The Hong Kong...