Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible: Here is an item of interest to swimmers. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 30) that due to bi… read more
Hongkong Post today (May 30) announced the postal service arrangements for the Tuen Ng Festival on June 7. No mail delivery and no mail collection will be provided. All post offices will be closed except for the General Po… read more
Police today (May 29) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Yau Ma Tei. Yim Chun-pan, aged 38, went missing after he was last seen on Portland Street … read more
Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at a media session after the LegCo meeting today (May 29).
Reporter: The protest organised by the legal sector, does it highlight that the bill is still controversial and that there’s not …?
Chief Secretary for Administration: Sorry, the protest is by the …?
Reporter: Legal sector. The legal sector is holding a protest on June 6th.
Chief Secretary for Administration: Well, I’m not going to comment on individual procession. Hong Kong is a free society. We respect freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, so I’m not in a position to comment individual organisations on what they propose to do.
But the point I want to make is that we are doing it for a very good reason. We are doing it (amendment bill) in the interest of Hong Kong. We’ve noted the concerns of the community and we’ve taken all these into account. As the Chief Executive said, we are in the course of listening to the views and feelings from all sectors. We will respond to the views and concerns expressed over the last few days on a holistic basis rather than on a piecemeal basis. Government will respond to all the points raised, suggestions put forward. If they’re viable, if they’re constructive, if they’re conducive to easing public concern, the business community’s concern, and providing that are practicable and also fulfil the two objectives of the bill, that is, handling the Taiwan murder case on the one hand and filling the void in the current legal regime on extradition on the other, then we are prepared to consider them carefully.
Reporter: Mr Cheung, according to a Reuters report today, the report suggested that some judges are very worried about the extradition bill because they worry that it would put them on a collision course with the Mainland government when they hand down judgments on the extraditions. When they themselves are worried about the extradition bill, how can the Government say that, you know, they could be the guardians when the bill is passed?
Chief Secretary for Administration: First of all, I’m not going to comment on the Reuters report, and, in fact, judges should not comment on political issues. If you remember what the Chief Justice said at the opening of this legal year, it’s inappropriate for any judges to comment on political affairs, particularly on cases which may appear before them in future. This is point number one.
Point number two is that Article 85 of the Basic Law clearly stipulates that judges of Hong Kong courts exercise judicial power independently and free from any interference. That’s a very important point to bear in mind. Absolutely apolitical – not political at all, it’s entirely an apolitical judiciary. “Fiercely independent” is the right adjective to describe our court system here in Hong Kong.
Another thing is, in fact, over the last 22 years, our courts already have experience in handling a number of extradition cases, so we’ve got experience in the courts. The judges know how to deal with the cases before them. So we’ve got expertise, professionalism. I’m sure that our judges can handle all these cases coming up in future with professionalism and with their skills as well. And in fact, there are cases where requests for extradition were rejected by the courts because of a lack of evidence, so don’t take it as read that the courts would automatically say yes. They will scrutinise it carefully, look at the law, the precedents and facts and so on. OK?
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) read more
The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, accompanied by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore, Mr Heng Swee Keat, at Government House this afternoon (May 29). Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, and the Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education, Mr Chee Hong Tat, also attended the meeting.
Mrs Lam congratulated Mr Heng for his promotion as the Deputy Prime Minister and welcomed his visit to Hong Kong as part of his inaugural overseas visit. Noting that the commitments made under the Free Trade Agreement between Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) among Hong Kong and five ASEAN member states including Singapore will enter into force on June 11, she expressed her gratitude to the Singapore Government for its long-standing support for the signing of related agreements between Hong Kong and ASEAN. She said she believes that, with the support of the Economic and Trade Offices in Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok established by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the development of Hong Kong and ASEAN will be further strengthened and relations between the two places will be taken to a new level.
Mrs Lam said that the people-to-people exchanges and trade ties between Hong Kong and Singapore have always been close and that the two places share similar backgrounds and developments. Adding that both places are among the most competitive economies in the world, she said they have a lot to learn from each other. Pointing out that Hong Kong is committed to developing innovation and technology and has devoted substantial resources and rolled out a number of specific measures, she expressed the hope to explore more collaboration in areas such as biotech, fintech and start-ups with research centres, education institutes and enterprises in Singapore.
