Tag Archives: China

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (May 14) conducted an operation to combat the online sale of infringing teaching notes for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination. During the operation, one person was arrested and a batch of items suspected to be involved in the case was seized, including a desktop computer set, a notebook computer, a tablet computer and a mobile phone.

     Customs earlier received a complaint from a copyright owner alleging that suspected infringing HKDSE Examination teaching notes were put on sale through online platforms.

     After an in-depth investigation with the assistance of the copyright owner, Customs officers found that a seller solicited business via a “cross-platform, multiple accounts” approach. Upon receiving orders, the seller would ask the buyers to transfer money to the designated electronic payment accounts. A hyperlink for downloading the suspected infringing HKDSE Examination teaching notes would then be sent to the buyers via email.

     Customs officers took enforcement action yesterday and arrested a 20-year-old man in Tung Chung suspected to be involved in the case.

     Investigation is ongoing.

     Under the Copyright Ordinance, any person who sells or possesses for sale any infringing goods commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $50,000 per infringing copy and imprisonment for four years.

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

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Friday, May 15, 2020 is 108.9 (up 0.1 against yesterday’s index). read more

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

     Following is the remarks by the President of the Legislative Council (LegCo), Mr Andrew Leung, on invoking Rule 92 of the Rules of Procedure (RoP) to deal with the delay in the election of the LegCo House Committee (HC) Chairman at a media briefing at the LegCo Complex today (May 15):

     I have invited representatives of Members belonging to different political affiliations and parties to have a meeting this morning with a view to resolving the current impasse of HC. Unfortunately, pan-democratic Members did not attend.

     As President, I have the responsibility to protect the Legislature and ensure that LegCo functions orderly. Over the past six months, I have attempted in different ways to help and hope HC could solve the impasse by itself. As early as late-March, I sought legal advice from outside Senior Counsels Mr Benjamin Yu and Mr Jenkin Suen on the responsibility and powers of the incumbent HC Chairman.

     At the same time, I sought legal advice from Lord Pannick QC and Mr Anthony Chan of Counsel on what actions could be taken by me as President of the LegCo with reference to experience of overseas legislatures. I received the latter piece of legal advice this week.

     According to the Counsel’s advice, the most effective solution for me is to invoke RoP 92 to introduce a new procedure for dealing with the current impasse in HC.

     I decided to specify Hon Chan Kin-por as the member presiding at the election of HC Chairman at a HC meeting to be held at 11am next Monday (May 18). When presiding at the election, Mr Chan shall proceed straight to balloting and shall not hear points of order or entertain any motion.

     Before deciding to invoke RoP 92, I have been hoping that HC could resolve (the impasse) by itself. Regrettably, the HC meeting held last Friday (May 8) presided by Hon Dennis Kwok failed to elect the Chairman and the afternoon meeting chaired by Hon Starry Lee had dealt with many outstanding items but the meeting proceeded in chaos and confrontations between Members.

     The inordinate delay in the election cannot be allowed. The present situation must be ended immediately.

     I must stress that my decision is made to address the exceptional difficulties. I appeal to Members to put aside political differences and elect the HC Chairman quickly. read more

     A spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) said today (May 15) that the Government will launch a One-off Grant to Registered Sports Coaches scheme under the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund. The scheme… read more

The following press release is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:

     In response to the COVID-19 epidemic and its evolving global impact, the University Grants Committee (UGC) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) have allocated a one-off additional funding of $150 million and $100 million respectively under the Collaborative Research Fund and the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) to support the UGC-funded sector in conducting research related to COVID-19 and other novel infectious diseases (NIDs).
 
     The Chairman of the UGC, Mr Carlson Tong, said, “The rapid spread of COVID-19 has brought about a huge impact around the world, including Hong Kong. We face unprecedented challenges not only to our public health system but also to education, business operations and all facets of life in our community. Looking back on the past few decades, different NIDs also brought various threats to humankind. The UGC would like to support, through this one-off additional funding, UGC‑funded universities for research projects related to COVID-19 and NIDs, especially projects and solutions that can help identify and/or address the wider health, social, economic or environmental impact of the epidemic. 
 
     “While priority will be given to COVID-19 research and those projects that may be completed early, NID research in all facets and disciplines are welcomed. We expect that the additional funding can support around 25 medium-size and two to three large-scale research projects.”
 
     He added, “The UGC and the RGC always strive to encourage local universities to conduct high-impact research especially those that would benefit people’s livelihood and the economy. Through this additional funding, we are joining hands with the Hong Kong community in our battle against the epidemic.”
 
     The RGC has issued invitations to the UGC-funded universities for submissions, with the deadline on July 17, 2020. Further information is available on the website of the RGC (www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/collaborative/application.html). For the TRS, call for preliminary proposals for TRS 2021/22 will be issued in July/August 2020. Details will be uploaded to the RGC website in due course. read more