The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

     The Judiciary today (June 8) announced the appointment of the Honourable Madam Justice Maggie Poon Man-kay, the Honourable Mr Justice Godfrey Lam Wan-ho and the Honourable Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming as Justices of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court. All appointments will take effect from June 9, 2021.

     The appointments are made by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission.  

     The biographical notes of the appointees are as follows:

The Honourable Madam Justice Maggie Poon Man-kay

     The Honourable Madam Justice Maggie Poon was born in Hong Kong in 1962. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Jurisprudence and LL.M. from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and the University of Hong Kong in 1985 and 1990 respectively. She obtained a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in 2000. She completed the Bar Finals Examination of the Inns of Court School of Law in London, United Kingdom, in 1986. She was called to the Bar of England and Wales and to the Bar in Hong Kong in 1986 and 1987 respectively. She was in private practice between 1988 and 1994. She joined the Judiciary as Permanent Magistrate in 1994. She was appointed as District Judge in 1998 and Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2009. 

The Honourable Mr Justice Godfrey Lam Wan-ho

     The Honourable Mr Justice Godfrey Lam was born in Hong Kong in 1968. He obtained B.A. (Law Tripos) from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom in 1991. He further obtained LL.M. in Asian and Comparative Law from the University of Washington, Seattle, in the United States of America in 1992 and P.C.LL. from the University of Hong Kong in 1993. He was called to the Bar in Hong Kong in 1993 and was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2008. He was in private practice between 1994 and 2012. He was appointed as Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court and President, Competition Tribunal, in 2013.

The Honourable Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming

     The Honourable Mr Justice Anderson Chow was born in 1964 in Hong Kong. He obtained LL.B. and P.C.LL. from the University of Hong Kong in 1986 and 1987 respectively. He was called to the Bar in Hong Kong in 1987 and was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1995. He was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2004. He was in private practice between 1988 and 2014. He was appointed as Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court from 2010 to 2014. He was appointed as Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2014.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at 9am today (June 8), no COVID-19 confirmed patient was discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 11 584 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.
 
     At present, there are 619 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 130 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 41 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 13 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, among which one patient (case number: 6794) is in critical condition, one (case number: 9907) is in serious condition and the remaining 39 patients are in stable condition.
 
     The Hospital Authority will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 is 100.3 (down 0.2 against yesterday's index).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Exchange Fund Bills tender results: 
 

 
*"Pro rata ratio" refers to the average percentage of allotment with respect to each tender participant's tendered amount at the "highest yield accepted" level.
———————————————————
     Hong Kong Monetary Authority tenders to be held in the week beginning – June 14, 2021:
     

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting today (June 8):

Reporter: Good morning. Two questions. Firstly, July 1 of this year marks the 24th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the centenary of the Communist Party of China. So, does the Government have plans to mark this special occasion? Secondly, what do you make of media reports that international study paid university students in Hong Kong to join protests in 2017? Thank you.
 
Chief Executive: Thank you for the two questions. Yes, in a few weeks' time, Hong Kong will be celebrating the 24th anniversary of reunification with the Mainland and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As in previous years, the HKSAR Government will host various types of activities including the flag-raising ceremony and the reception on July 1. And I understand that many associations are also organising similar celebration activities under the restrictions imposed because of COVID-19. It perhaps will not be able to go back to previous years when there were large crowds attending receptions, dinners and large gatherings to celebrate this important day, but I believe that these sort of activities are still going on. This year is also the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party. I have been invited, and I'm very pleased to be able to take part in some of the celebration activities including a seminar on the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and "One Country, Two Systems" this Saturday, and also an exhibition on the achievements of the Party over the last century. These will be the activities that you will see are taking place in Hong Kong.
 
     The second question, I do not have all the facts with me. I could only say as a matter of principle that, based on the events that we have seen in the latter half of 2019 until the enactment and implementation of the National Security Law, I hope there is now no doubt in the minds of many people that there are external forces quite active in Hong Kong for their ulterior motive. And I have just, in response to one of the questions, mentioned about those ulterior motives, either they want to undermine the Chinese Government, or they have ideological prejudices against China. These external forces are at work, and how they are acting, penetrating into various institutions in Hong Kong including the universities, is something that everyone in position should be very sensitive to. If there are reports that things like this sort are taking place in the university, I would urge the university management, the council chairman and the president to be extremely careful and to make sure that university students will not be easily indoctrinated by those prejudices and bias, let alone to take part in activities that will breach the laws of Hong Kong. Thank you.

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