Tag Archives: China

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Response by CE’s Office to media enquiries

     In response to an online post today (January 26) saying that the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, engaged in private activities during her duty visit to Switzerland, the Chief Executive’s Office states that the content of the post is far from the facts and has no basis.

     The Chief Executive arrived in Zurich, Switzerland in the morning on January 21 and travelled to Davos by car, arriving at noon. In the morning on January 24, she left Davos by car, and departed from Zurich by flight at noon. During her visit, Mrs Lam attended over 30 bilateral meetings, interviews by international media organisations and other speaking occasions. In the last day of her visit (January 23), the Chief Executive met with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Mark Rutte; Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Finance of Switzerland, Mr Ueli Maurer; the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Professor Klaus Schwab; the Executive Chairman of Investcorp, Mr Mohammed Alardhi; the Group Chairman of Standard Chartered, Mr José Viñals; and the Chairman of the Asia Pacific Initiative, Mr Yoichi Funabashi, and attended the lunch of the WEF Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders, a speaking session organised by the Young Presidents’ Organization and “the Hong Kong Night” – a flagship event co-organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and various Hong Kong organisations and enterprises to promote Hong Kong in Davos. The Chief Executive had no time during her visit, and in fact did not engage in any private activity. Her itinerary was covered by press releases issued earlier. The Chief Executive’s Office expresses regret over the false accusations deliberately made by some people against the Chief Executive. read more

Transcript of remarks by FS (with photos/video)

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (January 26):

Reporter: Mr Chan, how would the government help the medical sector and also in the hospitals to deal with the outbreak of the new coronavirus, would the government inject more money in the upcoming Budget to support the sector?

Financial Secretary: Money is not a constraint in this current fight against the outbreak of the virus. We have made this very clear at the beginning. Even at yesterday’s meeting, we specifically mentioned this to the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority. In case they need any additional resources, they should feel free to let us know and we will make the provisions accordingly. They told us that so far, they had enough resources to cope with what they needed, and they were very well aware of the fact that resources should not be a constraint. Say, for example, last year in the Budget, I earmarked a $10 billion funding to ensure that if they need emergency money, if they need stability in their funding, they can call upon it anytime.

Reporter: Mr Chan, just one question. I see that you are wearing a mask today, can you just say, are you feeling sick or are you just wearing a mask for a precautionary measure?

Financial Secretary: I am fine, thank you very much. It is precautionary measure. It is an advice by the government, when people go to gatherings with mass participation of people, for public health, we’d better wear a mask. Thank you.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

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