Extended mandate to fight epidemic and mend economy, Leung Chun-ying says

Most Hong Kong residents support the decision made by China's top legislature on the Legislative Council on Tuesday, the former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, has told state media.
Leung, who is vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference – the top political advisory body – expressed his support for the decision in an interview with state network CGTN on Tuesday.
Leung said the decision is "legal and reasonable," and that it will guarantee that the HKSAR government can concentrate on fighting the coronavirus pandemic together with various social sectors.  Leung also thanked medical support teams from the mainland for helping Hong Kong with nucleic acid testing. It is impossible for Hong Kong to conduct comprehensive testing of its 7.5 million residents by itself within a short period of time, he said. 
Hong Kong said last week that three national-level testing service providers, namely BGI, KingMed and HybriBio, would carry out nearly 500,000 tests a day, boosting Hong Kong's testing capacity substantially. 
Meanwhile, Leung said the national security law has been very effective since it came into force over a month ago, noting that social order in Hong Kong has been greatly improved. 

Commenting on the arrest of media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying for suspected violation of the law, Leung said it has nothing to do with democracy or freedom of expression. 
"It has nothing to do with democratic activities or media activities in Hong Kong," the former Hong Kong chief said. "He is accused of violating the national security law and other laws in Hong Kong. So it has nothing to do with freedom of the press or freedom of expression. It has everything to do with his personal offenses against the laws of Hong Kong."