Hong Kong aspires to be world leader in Chinese medicine

Hong Kong will be raising the bar to be the world leader in traditional Chinese medicine with the recent opening of the Chinese Medicine Hospital in Tseung Kwan O, according to the aspirations of China’s National Health Commission head Lei Haichao.

And that is also the aim of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu when he said he planned to turn Hong Kong into a “bridgehead for traditional Chinese medicine to go global.”
Both were speaking at the launching ceremony of the hospital and the adjacent testing institute as well as the signing ceremony of two agreements between the Hong Kong health authorities and the national agencies to deepen collaborations on both Chinese medicine and cancer research.

Lee said Hong Kong should serve the globe for the benefit of humanity and accelerate the internationalism of Chinese medicine, adding that the hospital should collaborate with the Hong Kong Science Park and the Hetao Shenzhen–Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone on clinical research and technology transfer.

Lee followed up with “Chinese medicine is an integral part of Hong Kong’s healthcare system, and our medical system, regulatory framework, standard-setting and clinical research are all aligned with international standards.”

So, the stage is set, but it will take a few years before Hong Kong can claim to be a global leader in the field. A Chinese medicine practitioner who sits on the hospital’s board, agreed that the testing institute was essential in helping promote Chinese medicine globally, as Hong Kong had a robust commerce and finance infrastructure with world-class research centres and universities.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has reached 196 countries and regions worldwide, with increasing institutional presence and recognition. China alone hosts more than 4,600 hospitals specializing in TCM.

The global market for Chinese medicine was estimated to be worth US$33.3 billion last year, rising to US$47.8 billion by the end of 2032, according to online marketing research data, and published in local media.

Internationally, TCM is integrated into mainstream healthcare systems in several countries. For example, in Malta, a TCM department was established at Mater Dei Hospital in 2008, marking the first time TCM was granted an independent department in a state hospital in the European Union. The Mediterranean Regional Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine (MRCTCM) in Malta has also become a well-known center for TCM treatment and training.

In Germany, the first European TCM hospital opened in Koetzting in 1991 as a joint venture with a Beijing hospital.

And the well-known Tong Ren Tang, Beijing’s oldest pharmacy with branches throughout Hong Kong, opened a branch in central London in 1995.

In 1870 the Tung Wah Hospital was the first to use Chinese medicine for the treatment in Chinese hospitals providing free medical services. As the promotion of Western medicine by the British government started from 1940, Western medicine started being popular among the Hong Kong population. But, in 1959, Hong Kong institutes had researched that the use of traditional Chinese medicine could replace Western medicine.

During the British rule, Chinese medicine practitioners in Hong Kong were not recognized as "medical doctors" per se, which meant they could not issue prescription drugs, give injections, etc. However, TCM practitioners could register and operate TCM as "herbalists".

The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong regulates compounds and professional standards for TCM practitioners. All TCM practitioners in Hong Kong are required to register with the council, which was established in 1999. The eligibility for registration includes a recognised 5-year university degree of TCM, a 30-week minimum supervised clinical internship, and passing the licensing exam.

Locally, the approved Chinese medicine institutions are Hong Kong University, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University, which operates the new hospital in Tseung Kwan O.

There were a few TCM pharmacies in Macau during the colonial period. In 1994, the Portuguese Macau government published a Decree-Law that officially regulated the TCM market. After the sovereign handover, the Macau S.A.R. government also published regulations on the practice of TCM. In 2000, Macau University of Science and Technology and Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine established the Macau College of Traditional Chinese Medicine to offer a degree course in Chinese medicine.

In Taiwan, TCM practitioners are physicians and are regulated by the Physicians Act. They possess the authority to independently diagnose medical conditions, issue prescriptions, dispense Traditional Chinese Medicine, and prescribe a variety of diagnostic tests including X-rays, ECG, and blood and urine test. Under current law, those who wish to qualify for the Chinese medicine exam must have to obtained a 7-year university degree in TCM. The National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, established in 1963, is the largest Chinese herbal medicine research center in Taiwan

To be the global leader it aspires to be, Hong Kong has a long way to go. Currently it has only 25 beds and day-care services and only six specialized TCM services. But this will grow rapidly and within four years the hospital will provide full inpatient services with its 400 beds and treating outpatient services of 400,000 annual attendances.

Mark Pinkstone

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years jail for treason related charges and the reaction from the international media and politicians is predictable.

They all decry Hong Kong and its judicial system as being unfair and persist in calling for his immediate release from prison.

They cite his failing health as a reason for his release. He has Type 2 diabetes, which is not uncommon in Hong Kong, including among the 10,000 inmates interned in local prisons.
In passing sentence, the three judges hearing the 156-day trial, noted that Lai was the mastermind and driving force behind these conspiracies. After considering the serious and grave criminal conduct of Lai, as noted in the Reasons for Verdict, applying the totality principle, the Court was satisfied that the total sentence for Lai in the present case should be 20 years’ imprisonment.

In a show of total transparency, the sentencing document was 47 pages long. Relevant extracts were read out in court, with full copies given to lawyers, the media and uploaded on the internet.
Six other co-defendants were also sentenced to jail time ranging from 6 years and 9 months to 10 years.

Lai was convicted last month on sedition and colluding with foreign governments to overthrow the Hong Kong government. These are serious charges anywhere in the world and a sentence of 20 years for such offences is duly warranted. Undoubtedly, he will appeal.

Stanley prison, where he is interned, has full hospital facilities staffed by qualified healthcare personnel, and round-the-clock basic health care services are provided at all penal institutions. Lai is receiving the best medical treatment available. The Correctional Services Department has a full-time chaplain who co-ordinates the planning and provision of religious services and Lai, a devout Catholic, specifically asked not to receive any religious privileges. He also asked to be kept in solitary confinement so as to not mingle with other inmates. Justices of Peace visit the prison every week to hear complaints from inmates and inspect their facilities. He has not been deprived of medical or visiting rights as suggested by his children, Sebastien and Claire, who have embarked on a campaign for his immediate release.

Lai senior has been found guilty of colluding with foreign governments, yet this is exactly what his children are doing. With millions of dollars at their disposal, they have embarked on a world-wide campaign to free their father, a basic instinct, which can only be achieved with the help of a huge bank roll. They have lobbied politicians in the US, UK and EU to apply pressure on the Hong Kong judiciary and authorities to release their father. For the Lai family, colluding with foreign forces is their own salvation.

But the judiciary is totally independent, free from pressures by human rights groups, the media, politicians and, indeed, the administration. The three judges – Esther Toh Lye-ping, Susana D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee Wan-tang – sat through gruelling evidence over a period of two years (with gaps in between) and produced a 855-page detailed document explaining the reasons behind their guilty convictions. Representatives from the UK, US and EU with a bevy of press attended the proceedings every day. The courtroom was specially configured to allow 58 seats in the public gallery and another 42 for the press in the main courtroom. Of those, 21 are allocated to local media, 14 to international outlets and seven to digital news platforms. Nothing can be more transparent than that.

This was not a “sham” trial as suggested by the Lai followers. Hong Kong is rated 6th in the Asia/Pacific region and 24th out of 143 countries worldwide by the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, two points above the US. Its independence is beyond reproach.

Yet the western media is being used to cast doubt on the judiciary’s ruling and sentencing. Lai has been painted as a father of democracy, but “democracy” was not his rallying call. His whole campaigns have centred around separatism. He was seeking Hong Kong independence, like Alberta pulling away from Canada, California from the USA and Catalonia from Spain. All have been rebutted by their federal governments. Arrest warrants have been issued for former journalist Carles Puigdemont as leader of the Spanish revolt and now in exile in Belgium with separatism charges looming over his head.

But Jimmy Lai did not flee Hong Kong after the 2019-20 bloody riots, which he fuelled through his newspaper, Apple Daily. Instead, he stayed behind to face the music and to be hailed a martyr to the cause. It is because of this carefully orchestrated action that he got to the support of world leaders who mistakenly thought he was advocating democracy. They were fooled by a billionaire and his family into thinking that by giving him support, they were providing freedom to the people of Hong Kong. Hong Kong people have all the freedoms they want and can even criticize the government for maladministration without fear of persecution.

Democracy was never an issue. Hong Kong has a fully elected legislature, its president is elected by its members, and the Chief Executive is elected by a 1500-strong election committee – 1000 more than the US. Hong Kong has a democracy and its Basic Law (mini constitution) allows for the Chief Executive to be elected by universal suffrage sometime in the future.