The Flag Presentation Ceremony of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Delegation to the 2nd National Youth Games (NYG) was held at Tsuen Wan Sports Centre today (July 30). More than 600 Hong Kong athletes will take part in the 2nd NYG in Taiyuan, Shanxi.
 
​     The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, officiated at the ceremony and presented the HKSAR flag to the President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the HKSAR Delegation, Mr Timothy Fok.
 
​     Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Lau said that the HKSAR Government has been allocating a lot of resources to nurture new talents and support athletes to participate in major sports events throughout the years. Local young athletes are able to accumulate their experience and further enhance their skills through the competitions. With their perseverance and outstanding skills, Hong Kong athletes lived up to our expectations and attained remarkable achievements in recent major sports events.
 
​     The 2nd NYG will be held between August 8 and 18. The HKSAR delegation comprises more than 800 members, of which 620 athletes will participate in final competitions in 27 sports, namely archery, cycling, fencing, triathlon, equestrian, canoeing, weightlifting, judo, athletics, swimming, gymnastics, handball, football, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, tennis, golf, skateboarding, sport climbing, baseball/softball, karatedo, wushu, dragon boating, dancesport, skating and ice hockey.
 
​     T​he NYG is a national mega sports event held every four years to provide a platform of exchange and competition for young athletes, as well as identify and nurture talents to become successors in the sports sector.
 
​     Also attending the flag presentation ceremony today were the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs and Honorary Adviser of the Delegation, Mrs Cherry Tse; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services and Vice Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Delegation, Ms Michelle Li; and the Vice Chairman of the Organising Committee and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Delegation, Mr Tony Yue.

  

     In response to media enquiries, the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office gave the following reply:
      
     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, met with the Commissioner of Police, Mr Lo Wai-chung, and representatives from four police officers' associations this morning (July 30).

     During the one-hour candid and useful meeting, Mr Cheung listened carefully to views of the representatives of the police officers’ associations on the difficulties and challenges faced by police officers when maintaining order for the spate of large-scale processions and protests held in recent weeks and taking enforcement actions against violence and damages subsequent to some of these events.  Mr Cheung reiterated that he gave his full support and recognition to the enforcement actions taken by the police officers.  Despite tremendous pressure faced by police officers in such difficult time, Mr Cheung paid warm tribute to the police force and expressed heartfelt appreciation for their dedication in fulfilling duties without fear, demonstration of professionalism in maintaining law and order in Hong Kong and protecting the lives and properties of Hong Kong people. The rule of law is the cornerstone of Hong Kong’s success and the police force plays a vitally important role in this respect.
     

     The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, and the Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Andy Chan, together with five students who joined the "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme this year and last year, as well as 10 summer interns working in the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, visited Shenzhen and Dongguan today (July 30) to see for themselves the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) cities. They also exchanged views with Mainland scholars and Hong Kong young people who started businesses there.

     Upon arrival in Shenzhen this morning, the group visited a high-tech enterprise specialising in cultural technology to learn about its development of theme parks with a culture-and-technology mix, comics and animation products as well as movie system with special effects.

     They then met with several Mainland scholars to exchange views on the development of Hong Kong and the Mainland as well as mutually beneficial co-operation between two places.

     The group departed for the Songshan Lake Xbot Park in Dongguan in the afternoon to keep abreast of the development of the robot industry in Dongguan and the co-operation between universities in Hong Kong and the Mainland on nurturing talents for the industry. They also toured two enterprises in the park specialising in biomedical engineering and robot development.

     Afterwards, they visited an innovation and entrepreneurship base for Hong Kong and Macao youths in Songshan Lake and met with young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong stationed in the base to gain a better understanding on starting business in the Mainland.

     The group will return to Hong Kong this evening.

      

     A Government spokesman said today (July 30) that the Chief Executive (CE), politically appointed officials and Members of the Executive Council (ExCo) have updated their annual declarations of interests, and the updated declarations are available on government websites for public inspection.
 
     The updated declaration of interests of the CE has been uploaded to the website of the Chief Executive's Office (www.ceo.gov.hk/eng/links.html). The declarations of interests of politically appointed officials, made in accordance with the Code for Officials under the Political Appointment System (PAO Code), have also been updated and uploaded to the websites of the respective offices or bureaux.
 
     Information on the registrable interests of ExCo Members (including the President as well as Official and Non-official Members) has also been uploaded to the ExCo website after updating (www.ceo.gov.hk/exco/eng/interests.html).
 
     The PAO Code stipulates that politically appointed officials shall declare their investments and interests on appointment and annually thereafter. These declarations are uploaded to the websites of the respective offices or bureaux. The CE voluntarily observes the above declaration arrangement. ExCo Members are likewise required to declare their registrable interests on appointment and annually thereafter. These declarations are uploaded to the ExCo website.

     A man was convicted and sentenced to 32 months' imprisonment today (July 30) at the District Court for using express air parcels to smuggle helmeted hornbill beaks, in contravention of the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (PESO).

     Officers from Hong Kong Customs inspected two express air parcels arriving from Malaysia at Hong Kong International Airport on January 9 this year and found 27 helmeted hornbill beaks weighing about 3 kilograms in total. Upon a follow-up investigation, the 36-year-old man in connection with the case was arrested.

     Under the PESO, any person found guilty of importing or exporting an endangered species without a licence is liable to a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for 10 years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).