Hong Kong Photo: VCG

A day ahead of the city's annual policy address, hinting at the further integration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) into China's greater development plan, the HKSAR government fought back in a decisive manner against the blatant interference of the British government into China's internal affairs by releasing a so-called six-monthly report on Hong Kong.

It is seen as a clear message that the HKSAR will further integrate into the Chinese mainland's development planning, no matter how hard external forces try to hinder such a goal. The interference, interpreted as an outdated colonialism mindset, won't stop the city from moving forward. 

On Monday, the UK foreign secretary published a "sixth-monthly report on Hong Kong", accusing China of acting in violation of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which no clause granted the UK any responsibility over Hong Kong after the city's return. 

Four authorities and HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam slammed the irresponsible report. The other four are the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong, the HKSAR government, and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government. All of them condemned the report as UK's "double standard at its fullest."

The pronouncements are seen as a signal that Hong Kong hopes to further strengthen its connection and cooperation with the mainland, which is expected to be reflected in Lam's policy address on Wednesday.

In October, Lam announced the postponement of this year's annual policy address, which was originally scheduled for that month, as she had been invited to attend the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone's 40th anniversary event on the same day. In early November, Lam visited Beijing after the Shenzhen event, and held discussions on measures for Hong Kong's development with central government officials. 

Lam said that she would seek a more integrated role in the mainland economy, and cooperation and support from the central government in aviation, financial services, innovation and technology, which will be helpful to restore the confidence of Hong Kong residents. 

On Monday, Lam revealed that there will be about 200 new measures in the policy address, including the central government's measures to benefit Hong Kong.

According to Hong Kong media reports, the measures will include encouraging Hong Kong residents to seek employment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, strengthening the connectivity between the stock markets in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and supporting logistics, shipping and aviation industries. 

Hong Kong's latest polling data shows the top three beneficial measures from the central government that Hong Kong people want to see covered in this year's policy address are "shipping, logistics and customs facilitation" (17 percent), "helping youth to find jobs in the Greater Bay Area" (10 percent) and "youth entrepreneurship support" (10 percent).

Lam is expected to announce more concrete measures in supporting the city's integration into the Greater Bay Area, letting the city play its unique role, Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, a solicitor at the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Tuesday.. 

"We won't pay much attention to the UK report, as the British government has been trying to pressure China with a document from the 1980s, reflecting its mindset of colonialism and deep-rooted bias," he said.