Tag Archives: China

     The Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Government Computer Emergency Response Team Hong Kong (GovCERT.HK) under the Digital Policy Office (DPO) jointly held the 9th Inter-departmental Cyber Security Drill today (May 26) to further enhance the overall defensive capabilities of government departments against cyber attacks.
 
     Addressing the opening ceremony of the drill, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Chow Yat-ming, said that “The Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address”  announced the introduction of a “Three-tier Prevention Framework” to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts. In this connection, a counter-terrorism segment titled “Counter-Terrorism Information Security Awareness Challenge” and the “Cyber Defence (Defense UK spelling) Tournament”, were introduced for the first time this year, aiming to bolster the Government’s overall defense capabilities against cyber terrorism threats and enhance personnel’s ability to handle cybersecurity incidents.
 
     He pointed out that while the Government promotes digitalisation to improve administrative efficiency, it also faces increasingly severe cybersecurity challenges. All government departments must be well-prepared and strengthen inter-departmental collaboration to further prevent cyber incidents and enhance response capabilities, ensuring that Hong Kong continues to play an important and unique role within the national security framework, contributing to social stability and safeguarding national interests.
 
     Addressing the event, the Assistant Commissioner (Project Governance and Cybersecurity) of the DPO, Ms Candy Chan, said that with the continuous development of the digital economy, cybersecurity has become a critical cornerstone for driving efficient government operations and innovation in public services. She hoped that through this exercise, participants would gain hands-on experience in detecting threats, analysing intrusions, and responding attacks effectively, thereby accumulating valuable practical experience and mastering effective strategies to counter real-world cyber threats.
 
     The drill this year included representatives from 71 bureaux and departments, as well as industry experts from six professional and academic institutions. More than 280 personnel participated, setting new records in both scale and attendance.
 
     The counter-terrorism segment, “Counter-Terrorism Information Security Awareness Challenge” was co-ordinated with the support of the Information Security and Technology Application Working Group. It utilised a highly interactive real-time Q&A platform to raise information security awareness and improve decision-making capabilities in responding to cybersecurity threats among senior management and IT security officers across various bureaux and departments.
 
     In addition, the “Cyber Defence Tournament” was conducted in the form of a “blue teams versus red teams” approach, where participants formed “blue teams” to collectively respond to simulated cyber attacks launched by “red teams” composed of cybersecurity industry experts and academics in a virtual network environment.
 
     This drill also serves as a prelude to the second Hong Kong Cybersecurity Attack and Defence Drill which will be held in October this year. The second drill will be further expanded in scale, encompassing more government departments and public organisations. Through the Inter-departmental Cyber Security Drill, participating departments can strengthen their readiness and enhance their response capabilities, laying a solid foundation for the participation in the Hong Kong Cybersecurity Attack and Defence Drills.
 
     The Government will continue to implement various measures to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities in order to ensure all departments can effectively counter cyber attacks and uphold overall cybersecurity.
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     The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau led the industry to participate in the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Expo (ICIF), and sponsored the industry to set up a Hong Kong Pavilion themed “So Stylish, Hong Kong”, increasing the industry’s exposure on the Mainland and opportunities to explore markets and collaboration. The promotion attracted enthusiastic responses, with a total of about 150 000 visitors recorded in the Hong Kong Pavilion over the four-day fair period, demonstrating Hong Kong’s strong cultural influence.
      
     The Commissioner for Cultural and Creative Industries, Mr Victor Tsang, said in his speech during the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Pavilion held on May 22, that the Hong Kong Pavilion covered many elements to highlight the latest achievements of Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries. There was an extensive portfolio of works from well-known iconic brands and creators with a long history, and also from a number of Hong Kong new-generation creators and brands. The designs presented a rich selection of East-meets-West in Hong Kong’s culture, and designgers have been committed to continuous reinvention based on the profound cultural heritage of their creations. The Hong Kong Pavilion allowed visitors to understand various aspects of Hong Kong’s culture and creative industries, and to experience more deeply what makes Hong Kong a distinguished and unique place.
      
     The Hong Kong Pavilion comprised four zones, exhibiting films, comics, art toys, fashion, jewellery and lifestyle products from 14 units of Hong Kong designers or brands, with an aim to showcase the latest achievements in Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries. Highlights of the pavilion included that the Art Toy Zone was iterated as a creation by three art toy designers, namely Kenny Wong, Lung Ka-sing and Pucky who created their art toys of Molly, Labubu and Pucky respectively; the Fashion Zone featured a classic denim brand and unique Hong Kong fashion designs, motifs and accessories; whereas the Jewellery and Lifestyle Zone featured innovative products by Hong Kong iconic brands, namely Red A, Made by Camel and Chow Tai Fook. The Film and Comics Zone showed footage from eight of the films directed by film director Yang Fan spotlighting multiple remarkable Hong Kong movie scenes and well-known actors, and works from comics artists Joseph Wong, Jerry Cho and Pen So.
      
     The Hong Kong Pavilion also hosted a number of exciting activities during the fair period, including music and dance performances, fashion parades, sharing times and book signing sessions to showcase the cultural soft power of Hong Kong.
      
     As an international and comprehensive cultural industries exhibition at the national level, the ICIF assumes an important business platform for China’s cultural products and projects, promoting the development of Chinese cultural industries and propelling Chinese cultural products to go global. During the fair, Mr Tsang, had meetings with cultural and creative organisations from around the world in order to strengthen connections and join hands with the industry to develop international markets, introducing more outstanding Hong Kong cultural and creative works to counterparts on the Mainland and around the world.
      
     The works and products in the 21st ICIF Hong Kong Pavilion are tentatively planned to be exhibited at the DX Design Hub at 280 Tung Chau Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, in August this year. The exhibition will be open to the public and details will be available in due course.  

    

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (May 28) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the Second Reading debate on the Air Passenger Departure Tax (Amendment) Bill 2025 will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.

     The Second Reading debates on the Firearms and Ammunition (Amendment) Bill 2025 and the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Minimum Tax for Multinational Enterprise Groups) Bill 2024 will also resume. If the Bills are supported by Members and receive their Second Reading, they will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bills and their reports are adopted by the Council, the Bills will be set down for the Third Reading.

     On Members’ motions, Mr Leung Man-kwong will move a motion on reviewing the hawker management policy and invigorating the local economy. The motion is set out in Appendix 1. Mr Kwok Wai-keung will move an amendment to Mr Leung’s motion.

     Mr Yang Wing-kit will move a motion on reviewing the development strategy for public markets. The motion is set out in Appendix 2. Mr Michael Tien, Ms Chan Yuet-ming and Mr Tang Ka-piu will move separate amendments to Mr Yang’s motion.

     Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Members of the public can watch or listen to the meeting via the “Webcast” system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meeting at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

      The Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Public Service conducted a duty visit to Shenzhen today (May 26) to gain insight into the developments in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for assisting public officers in handling government administrative work. The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, and other government officials also participated in the visit.
 
      Members visited the Government Services and Data Management Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipality in Futian District in the morning to learn about how the local government has introduced “AI digital employees” to assist public officers in their work. The system began development in 2023 and utilised DeepSeek to enhance the capability of its large language model for public administration early this year. Members were informed about how public officers make use of the “AI digital employees” installed on computers and mobile phones, including for drafting official documents and handling public cases more efficiently.
 
      Members then visited the Shenzhen Government Service Center and received a briefing by its representatives on how AI is used for providing various public services. During the visit, Members observed the services provided by the Center, and learned about the operation of the platform for addressing public concerns.
 
      Members went to the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in the afternoon to learn about the operation of the nation’s first “Vertical Domain-specific Large Model” dedicated to judicial trials, which was established last year. Members observed the use of the AI-Enhanced Adjudication Assisting System, and exchanged views with representatives of the Court. The system covers the legal processes of civil, criminal and administrative litigation, helping judicial officers analyse case details, summarise facts and clarify points of contention. It also assists judges in accurately citing authoritative precedents in their rulings.
 
      Members also toured an innovative and technology company in Nanshan District to learn how AI is being used to enhance the efficiency of legal services. The company specialises in providing enterprises with large-model services and solutions for legal compliance. Members received a briefing from company representatives on innovations in the legal services sector, followed by an exchange session.
 
      Members who participated in the duty visit were the Chairman of the Panel, Ms Nixie Lam, the Deputy Chairman of the Panel, Mr Benson Luk, Panel members Ms Doreen Kong, Dr Johnny Ng, Mr Lam San-keung, Mr Dennis Leung, Mr Kingsley Wong, and Dr So Cheung-wing; as well as a non-Panel member Ms Maggie Chan. They returned to Hong Kong in the evening.

          

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      The Hospital Authority (HA) and the National Conference of University Hospital General Managers of France signed a three-year declaration of intent today (May… read more