At China's top annual political gathering, the Two Sessions, Chinese lawmakers are deliberating on the decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). CGTN's Dong Xue speaks to Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, a member of China's top political advisory body from the HKSAR, who responded to critics of the proposal to improve the region's electoral system.

CGTN: First, tell me about your proposal this year and your experience as a political advisor.

Kenneth Fok Kai-kong: I'm really concerned about the overall health and well-being of the Hong Kong economy. If you look at figures, unemployment rate is nearly 7 percent now, and it should be the highest since SARS back in 2003. And if you look for youth unemployment is worse, it's nearly double digit.

And throughout the past one year, I've really spoken to a lot about the people who work in the culture and sports sectors. And they've really been hit the hardest. Many of them, they're passionate about what they do, but they really turned to other jobs as a means of survival. If we lose talents like this, the whole economy, the whole sector is going to fall.

So in my proposal, I've really set up quite a few concepts or policy recommendations where they could take advantage and they can easily advance in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

For example, venue partnerships. In Hong Kong, the biggest problem for this sector is the lack of space and lack of venues. They cannot have a long-term business proposal because the venues are limited. But you look at the GBA - Zhuhai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, they have beautiful world-class performing venues and they need more content. So can we have more of a unified venue program where quality programs can come to the GBA.

CGTN: There's been a lot of international criticism over the national security law for Hong Kong. What changes have you seen in Hong Kong since the law was introduced?

Fok: I'll use an analogy, back then it really felt like the train was about to derail and every day we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. So, put the stability in the train. So, the train is back on track, but now it's all about finding the right track. Hopefully, we're going straight and towards where we hope it's going.

We saw what happened in the chaotic mass violence we saw on the streets of Hong Kong. Most of my friends were scared to go out. Even my friends from the Chinese mainland, they are scared to speak Putonghua (mandarin) on the streets. This is no mode of freedom. This is not something that we should be proud of.

I think the national security law (for Hong Kong) was really essential at that time to stop the violence on the streets and really curb the so-called idea of the independence. It's toxic.

CGTN: Critics say Beijing's proposal to improve Hong Kong's electoral system aims to shut opposition voices out of the city's political process completely, do you agree?

Fok: No, I don't agree. I don't think this step has got anything to do with cracking down on voices. First of all, free speech, even freedom of protest and freedom of expression are protected by the Basic Law. And the change of electoral system doesn't change at all. It is just changing the details on the two elections process, but I believe the so-called opposition will still have a role and their freedom to voice out their concerns with government policy. I think they must have best interest or intent for Hong Kong and the country at heart, so I think with this change, it's really making sure that you know the right intent is there, and not just about, as some say, crackdown on opposition voices. I don't agree with this rhetoric.

CGTN: Many of those who took to the streets in Hong Kong back in 2019 were young people. So what do young people in Hong Kong think about the mainland, and what are the factors behind these feelings?

Fok: The young people I spoke to, they are really optimistic about our country's future and really want to join. I think the question now is how they can benefit from our country's success. We don't want to be in a situation where we talk about how great our country has improved and (is) improving, but sometimes we let the empathy or we let the extra step on trying to help them reach their own goals.

Rather than us just telling them about the opportunity and telling them about our success story, we should be the one proactively building a platform, and building opportunities for them to be able to enjoy the success by themselves.

CGTN: How would you describe the principle, introduced by Chinese lawmakers, of "patriots governing Hong Kong"?

Fok: I know there's been a lot of discussions throughout the whole week. But I'd like to spend a little bit more thought on governing. "Patriots governing Hong Kong". Yes, we may find patriots, but we need to train a generation of young people who have the right skills, the right experience to really govern Hong Kong. I think this is also the key when they go hand in hand. You got to be a patriot and that's the core, and the basic requirements. But the harder requirement is people with the ability to govern.

CGTN: What do you think the mainland can do to promote trust among Hong Kong residents?

Fok: Trust takes a long time. I mean it's not just the mainland. It's not about what (the) mainland does, we should be doing it both ways.

I think on the Hong Kong's side, it really stems from education. We really need to include more subjects about the Chinese mainland. Not just Chinese history back thousands of years, but more importantly our recent histories since (the) reform and opening-up.

I think a lot of stories that have gone untold in Hong Kong, where we came from, how we've reached where we are. (It) is not the end goal. It's a story that's more important.

Secondly, our country is on a very important stage in the world stage. We are the second largest economy in the world and are part of (the) many initiatives worldwide, whether economically or culturally. And there are many opportunities for our country to go out internationally to represent ourselves, and hoping that young Hong Kong people can join more of these delegations, so they feel part of the country.

CGTN: Once the proposed electoral reforms have passed, what do you think, as a CPPCC member, you can do to help promote their implementation in Hong Kong?

Fok: When we go back, we've already a lot of sessions lined up to talk about the proposed changes and also to talk about the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). I think this is important too, to get the message across correctly.

And secondly, I think it's important also for us to try to understand more of local Hong Kong. It shouldn't be a one-way street. It's also important, on the other way of the street, to listen to Hong Kong people and reflect back to the central government, their views.