On September 3, Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming met with and hosted a banquet for the sports delegations from Hong Kong and Macau China to the 14th Paralympic Games at the Chinese Embassy. Dr. York Chow, President of Hong Kong Paralympic Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled, Silas Chiang, Chef de Mission for Hong Kong’s Paralympic delegation, Antonio Fernandes, President of the Macau-China Paralympic Committee and Head of the Macau’s Paralympic delegation, as well as over 20 athletes, coaches and members of the Hong Kong and Macau Paralympic delegations, attended the meeting and banquet.

Ambassador Liu expressed warm welcome to the Hong Kong and Macau Paralympic delegations to London for the 14th Paralympic Games and congratulated the Hong Kong delegation on their good performance in the Games. Ambassador Liu said that every Paralympic athlete has had a hard struggle and a moving story of self-renewal and has overcome and transcended himself. He said: “You come to the Paralympic stadium in Britain by overcoming the difficulties and challenges unimaginable to ordinary people. This has proven your extraordinary bravery. When you courageously competed in London Paralympic Games, those cheering for you are not only the 7 million Hong Kong citizens and the 550,000 Macau citizens, but also the 1.3 billion Chinese compatriots and tens of millions of overseas Chinese. We at the Embassy, the Chinese students in Britain and people from the Chinese community and Chinese-funded institutions will all go to the events to cheer for you!”

Ambassador Liu said that in the past 15 years since the return of Hong Kong and 12 years since the return of Macau, the two Special Administrative Regions have made remarkable achievements in the development in various fields and maintained social stability and harmony. The practice of the “One Country, Two Systems” has been constantly enriched and developed. Hong Kong and Macau have fully expanded the exchanges with the mainland of China, with increasingly closer economic and trade relations and deepened cooperation in various fields. The SARs and the mainland have achieved complementary advantages, mutual benefit, a win-win situation and common prosperity. In terms of foreign relations, Hong Kong and Macau have also made great progress since their handover. They have displayed their unique style in the international arena. The Chinese Embassy also has always been committed to supporting Hong Kong and Macau in their exchanges and cooperation with the UK in various fields including economy and trade. The Ambassador said, “I visited Hong Kong at the end of last year at the invitation of the Hong Kong SAR Government and gained first-hand experience of the SAR. I have also introduced the successful practice of the “One Country, Two System” policy in Hong Kong and Macau to the British community in many of my speeches in Britain. I believe this helps to promote the mutual understanding and mutually beneficial cooperation between the UK and Hong Kong and Macau. I sincerely wish Hong Kong and Macau, the pearls on the coast of South China Sea, to shine even more brightly. Hong Kong and Macau must have a better tomorrow! ”

President York Chow and President Antonio Fernandes thanked Ambassador Liu and the Chinese Embassy for their warm reception and strong support respectively on behalf of the Hong Kong and Macau Paralympics delegations. They said that the central government has done a lot of fruitful work in protecting the welfare and improving the life of the disabled persons. The Chinese national team started to lead the medal table shortly after the opening of the London Paralympic Games. This is a clear evidence of the tremendous achievements of the motherland in the undertakings for the disabled persons, and every Chinese is proud of it. The central government and all communities in the mainland have always been supporting the development of the sports for the disabled in Hong Kong and Macau. It is hoped that Hong Kong and Macau would work with the mainland hand to promote the further development of the undertakings for disabled persons.