kakase/hk_gov_press_release huggingface dataset:
CE meets Secretary of CPC Hunan Provincial Committee
16.4.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, Mr Du Jiahao, at Government House this afternoon (April 16). The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, also attended the meeting. Welcoming Mr Du's first visit to Hong Kong in his capacity as the Secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee with a delegation, Mrs Lam said she was particularly pleased to know that Mr Du had chosen to take the high-speed rail for the round trip and will be able to go back to Changsha on a direct train from West Kowloon Station. She congratulated Hunan Province for the successful hosting of the 2019 Hunan-Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Conference yesterday (April 15) and the signing of many investment projects for Hunan. She said that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is a key national development strategy covering not only enterprises in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, but also those further afield. She welcomed Hunan Province to host promotion week events with the theme of connecting Hunan Province and the Greater Bay Area to deepen economic and trade co-operation between them, seizing together the opportunities brought about by the development of the Greater Bay Area. She encouraged Hunan enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's advantages as a highly open and international city with an open and facilitating business environment as well as quality professional services to develop businesses and "go global". She said that Hong Kong and Hunan Province have all along held close trade and economic ties, in particular with the Hunan Liaison Unit set up by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in 2016, and thanked Hunan Province for its staunch support for the work of the unit. She added that Hong Kong has strong complementarity with Hunan in a number of industries and looks forward to enhancing co-operation in areas including modern services industries, financial services, innovation and technology and tourism between the two places. Ends/Tuesday, April 16, 2019 Issued at HKT 18:42 NNNN
CE meets Chairman of People First Party
16.4.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met with the visiting Chairman of the People First Party, Mr James Soong, this afternoon (April 16) at Government House. The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, was also present. Mrs Lam welcomed Mr Soong's visit to Hong Kong, which is the first stop of his trip to cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and wished his visit every success. She said the Greater Bay Area is one of the most open and economically vibrant regions of China with great development potential and will bring about immense opportunities. Pointing out that Hong Kong is one of the core cities of the Greater Bay Area and will play an active role in its development, she said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is committed to promoting the development of high-end and high value-added financial, commercial and trading, logistics and professional services as well as advancing innovation and technology and establishing Hong Kong as the centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region. She encouraged Taiwan enterprises to use Hong Kong as a platform to explore the business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. Ends/Tuesday, April 16, 2019 Issued at HKT 17:51 NNNN
CE meets President of Tsinghua University and Asian Universities Alliance
13.4.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the President of Tsinghua University and the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), Professor Qiu Yong, at Government House at noon today (April 13) and hosted a lunch after the meeting for the 15 heads of the AUA member universities who will attend the annual AUA Summit in Hong Kong. The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, also attended the lunch. At the meeting with Professor Qiu, Mrs Lam welcomed further co-operation between Tsinghua University and higher education institutions in Hong Kong, in particular in innovation and technology (I&T) and its application, to contribute jointly to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as an international I&T hub. She also thanked him for the arrangement made by Tsinghua University for her to speak at the institution to introduce the latest situation of Hong Kong during her trip to Beijing earlier. Addressing the lunch, Mrs Lam welcomed the visit of heads of AUA member universities to Hong Kong to attend the AUA Summit 2019 to be held tomorrow (April 14) at AUA member the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which she is also invited to attend. She said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government highly supports the strengthening of co-operation among universities in Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas. The AUA brings together top universities in the region and provides an effective platform to promote various professional exchanges among member universities, enabling the enhancement of the quality of higher education and the capability in technological innovation in the Asian region. Mrs Lam said that the HKSAR Government is committed to promoting the development of I&T and establishing two world-class research clusters at the Hong Kong Science Park on healthcare technologies and artificial intelligence and robotics technologies. She encouraged the AUA to continue to deepen regional co-operation, including boosting exchanges among scientific researchers and collaboration in scientific research. Pioneered by Tsinghua University, the AUA was established in Beijing in 2017 with 15 universities from 14 Asian countries and regions. Ends/Saturday, April 13, 2019 Issued at HKT 14:30 NNNN
Appointments to Process Review Panel in relation to Regulation of Mandatory Provident Fund Intermediaries
12.4.2019

The Government announced in the Gazette today (April 12) appointments to the Process Review Panel in relation to the Regulation of Mandatory Provident Fund Intermediaries (PRP). The Chief Executive has appointed Ms Grace Yu Ho-wun and Mr Allen Lau Kai-hung as members of the PRP. The appointments will take effect from April 12, 2019, until March 31, 2021, both dates inclusive. Welcoming the appointments, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, said, "I trust the new appointees will utilise their sound professional knowledge and expertise and contribute to the work of the PRP. "Under the distinguished leadership of Dr Eddy Fong, the PRP has played a vital role in enhancing the regulatory regime for the protection of Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme members by reviewing the operations of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) in relation to MPF intermediaries. I am confident that the PRP will continue to provide constructive and insightful suggestions to the MPFA with a view to continuously improving the effectiveness and enhancing the transparency of the regulatory regime for MPF intermediaries." Established in November 2013 following the commencement of the statutory regulatory regime for MPF intermediaries, the PRP is an independent panel tasked to review and advise the MPFA on the adequacy and consistency of its internal procedures and operational guidelines governing the actions taken and operational decisions made by the MPFA and its staff in the performance of its regulatory functions relating to the regulation of MPF intermediaries and associated matters. Following is the membership of the PRP with effect from April 12, 2019: Chairman ----------- Dr Eddy Fong Ching Members ----------- Miss Grace Chan Man-yee Mr Chan Yim-kwong Ms Agnes Choi Heung-kwan Mr Eugene Fung Ting-sek, SC Mr Hui Ching-yu Mr Allen Lau Kai-hung Mr James Lin Ms Nicole Yuen Shuk-kam Ms Grace Yu Ho-wun Ex-officio members ---------------------- Chairman of the MPFA Secretary for Justice (or her representative) Ends/Friday, April 12, 2019 Issued at HKT 12:00 NNNN
CE meets Governor of Hebei Province
10.4.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Governor of Hebei Province, Mr Xu Qin, at Government House this evening (April 10). The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, also attended the meeting. Welcoming Mr Xu's first visit to Hong Kong in his capacity as the Governor of Hebei Province with a delegation, Mrs Lam said she was pleased to meet him for the fourth time since she took office, which is a testimony to the importance the two places attach to their relations. She said she attended with him the Hebei theme promotion conference "Sharing new opportunities in national strategy, creating a new chapter in Hebei-Hong Kong cooperation" earlier today, where response to the promotion activities was overwhelming. Adding that she was pleased to learn that the delegation will sign co-operation agreements with enterprises, organisations and institutions as well as attend different business matching activities, she said she believes that collaboration in economic and trade affairs and investment as well as other areas between the two places would be further enhanced. Mrs Lam said that the Central Government promulgated the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in February, and Hong Kong will leverage its advantages in areas such as finance and innovation and technology to play an active role in the Greater Bay Area development. Pointing out that the Central Government is also committed to advancing the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Cooperative Development in which Hebei plays an important role, she expressed the hope that Hebei will make use of Hong Kong as a platform to seek foreign investments and establish various kinds of support facilities to take forward its development blueprint and boost the cooperative development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Ends/Wednesday, April 10, 2019 Issued at HKT 22:37 NNNN
Transcript of remarks by CE at media session
10.4.2019

Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session after attending the Hebei theme promotion conference today (April 10): Reporter: Will you take the EU's advice and start the political reform again? Chief Executive: I think everybody knows very well the pain and the damage done by 79 days of Occupy movement, and we all know that this was the result of an attempt, and a very serious attempt, carried out by myself and my colleagues to try to implement universal suffrage for the selection of the Chief Executive in accordance with the Basic Law. I would be not very responsible if I judge that I have the necessary circumstances and conditions to restart an exercise which will continue to be very divisive in society and drag down Hong Kong. In the many things that I want to do as the Chief Executive, we have a lot of development opportunities - we have the Greater Bay Area, we have a lot of external affairs that we could carry out - in order to grow Hong Kong’s economy, to develop Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub. There is really no room for us to stir up more troubles in society. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) Ends/Wednesday, April 10, 2019 Issued at HKT 20:44 NNNN
CE meets Princess of Thailand
10.4.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, accompanied by the Convenor of the Non-official Members of the Executive Council, Mr Bernard Chan, met with HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand and hosted a lunch for her at Government House today (April 10). The Thai Ambassador to China, Mr Piriya Khempon, and the Consul-General of Thailand in Hong Kong, Mr Asi Mamanee, also attended the meeting. Mrs Lam welcomed Princess Sirindhorn's visit to Hong Kong to participate in the Lui Che Woo Prize Council meeting. She said that the Lui Che Woo Prize, set up by Hong Kong entrepreneur Dr Lui Che-woo in 2015 to award individuals or organisations that have selflessly dedicated themselves to the nurturing and enrichment of world civilisation, is very meaningful and that she was the officiating guest of the prize presentation ceremony in her capacity as Chief Executive in the past two years. She thanked Princess Sirindhorn for her staunch support for the prize. Pointing out that Thailand is an important partner of Hong Kong, Mrs Lam said she has visited Thailand three times since she took office, including the trip to Thailand to officiate at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Bangkok (Bangkok ETO) at the end of February. She said she believes that with the establishment of the Bangkok ETO and following the completion of the ratification process of the Free Trade Agreement and the Investment Agreement signed between Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the end of 2017, the relations between Hong Kong and Thailand as well as ASEAN will be deepened and more areas for collaboration will be explored. Ends/Wednesday, April 10, 2019 Issued at HKT 20:20 NNNN
Transcript of remarks by Acting CE at media session before ExCo meeting
9.4.2019

Following is the transcript of remarks by the Acting Chief Executive, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting this morning (April 9): Reporter: Mr Cheung, on the "ding" rights under the Small House Policy, what do you mean by whether the Government is planning to appeal? Which grounds are they looking into? Secondly, UK has raised concern on the extradition law, so will the Government withdraw it? Lastly, the coming verdict on some occupy leaders, do you think that will affect public sentiment and how do you think about that? Acting Chief Executive: The first question, of course it's the Development Bureau in concert with the Department of Justice will very carefully consider and examine the arguments, the reasoning in the court ruling, as far as the so-called "ding" right (legitimate traditional interests of indigenous villagers) is concerned. So we will certainly make our decision clear later on. But in the meantime, we must have a little breathing space to study carefully the judgment before we come to a conclusion on the way forward. The second question is about what you mentioned about this extradition law and all that. I just want to make the point clear here. We are talking about really filling a void in the legal system. There is a big gap at the moment in terms of extradition with some countries, you know. We don't want Hong Kong to be a haven for criminals, for suspects. We have to make sure that we respect the rule of law, and Hong Kong is very proud to have judicial independence plus the rule of law. All the concerns in the public arena, in fact raised by international community, are not entirely warranted. If you look carefully into the entire thinking, we've got pretty clear safeguards before a decision is made to allow somebody to be extradited. And all these safeguards are real safeguards. They are not imaginary safeguards. We must not try to think of various scenarios which are not really real in real life. So what I am saying here is we've got clear safeguards, clear barriers, before we actually come to the decision to allow somebody to be sent back. You know, so all these safeguards are real safeguards, including the Department of Justice will be the gatekeeper, including we've got a lot of judicial review procedures in Hong Kong to provide protection, for example, habeas corpus. And finally we've got the Court of Final Appeal. The entire procedure is transparent. And Hong Kong is very proud because, judicial independence, we are number one in Asia, number eight in the world. All these are the factors we've got to consider. We look at the whole picture itself. Reporter: On the coming verdict of the occupying leaders and figures, what is your view? And do you think it will affect Hong Kong democracy? Acting Chief Executive: Well, we have to wait for the judgement to come out in first place, alright. It is premature for us to make any comment on that particular case. Thank you. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) Ends/Tuesday, April 9, 2019 Issued at HKT 12:33 NNNN
CE meets President of Panama
2.4.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, accompanied by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, and the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, met with the President of Panama, Mr Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez, at Government House this afternoon (April 2). Panama's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Nestor Gonzalez, and Minister for Canal Affairs, Mr Roberto Roy, also attended the meeting. Mrs Lam welcomed Mr Varela Rodriguez's visit to Hong Kong this year, shortly after China and Panama established diplomatic relations in 2017, to officiate at the opening ceremony of the Consulate General of Panama in Hong Kong. Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude for the importance he attaches to the relations between the two places. She said that Hong Kong, an international financial, logistics and business centre, has all along been the ideal gateway for overseas enterprises to get access to the markets in the Mainland and Asia; while Panama, a vital global hub for trade connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic, has been serving as a transshipment and logistics hub in Latin America and the Caribbean. Pointing out that both places possess excellent ports and are dedicated to developing the maritime industry, she said that Hong Kong is striving to develop high-end maritime services and co-operation between the two places is set to create synergy. She noted that Panama is one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America and has great development potential, with bilateral merchandise trade between Hong Kong and Panama increasing by nearly 30 per cent year-on-year in 2018. Mrs Lam said she believed that the establishment of Panama's Consulate General in Hong Kong will add impetus to the advancement of bilateral trade and economic relations between the two places, and boost co-operation and exchanges in more areas. Mrs Lam said that with the commissioning of two major cross-boundary infrastructure projects last year, namely the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the travelling times between Hong Kong and Mainland cities have been shortened further, which will help promote the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Pointing out that Hong Kong is able to play a key role in the growing trade flows and bilateral ties between China and Panama, she encouraged Panamanian enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's status as an international financial, maritime and trading centre to explore markets in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Mainland and elsewhere in Asia. Ends/Tuesday, April 2, 2019 Issued at HKT 21:26 NNNN
Transcript of remarks by CE at media session before ExCo meeting
2.4.2019

Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting this morning (April 2): Reporter: Is it still suitable to table the fugitive law in LegCo now that it's facing legal challenges from a business figure? Chief Executive: Well, as a matter of fact, the Hong Kong SAR Government is facing legal challenges on a daily basis, but that doesn't mean that we should put on hold important work which is for the public interest of Hong Kong. As I have said repeatedly, we have scheduled to introduce the amendment bill into Legislative Council at its sitting tomorrow and thereafter I'm sure the Legislative Council will form a Bills Committee to scrutinise the bill. That is our current work schedule. As far as individual actions taken relating to this particular legislative amendment exercise, since it is into the judicial process, I'm not going to offer any comments. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) Ends/Tuesday, April 2, 2019 Issued at HKT 12:45 NNNN
CE to visit Japan
1.4.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, will depart for Tokyo, Japan, on April 7 to attend the Symposium on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area jointly organised by the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao on April 9. The Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Ma Xingrui, and the Secretary for Administration and Justice of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, Ms Sonia Chan, will also attend the symposium. While in Japan, Mrs Lam will meet with the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Shinzo Abe, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Taro Kono. She will also meet with leaders of the business sector as well as organisations and institutions in relation to innovation and technology (I&T), and visit I&T, elderly care and medical facilities. Mrs Lam will return to Hong Kong on April 9 afternoon. During her absence, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will be the Acting Chief Executive. Ends/Monday, April 1, 2019 Issued at HKT 19:30 NNNN
Judicial appointment
1.4.2019

The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary: The Judiciary today (April 1) announced the appointment of Mr Russell Adam Coleman, SC, as Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court. The appointment will take effect from April 2, 2019. The appointment is made by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission. The biographical note of Mr Russell Adam Coleman, SC, is as follows: Mr Coleman, SC, was born in 1963 in the United Kingdom. He obtained LL.B. from the University of Wales, United Kingdom, in 1985 and completed the Bar Finals Examination of the Inns of Court School of Law in London, United Kingdom, in 1986. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1986 and to the Hong Kong Bar in 1991. He was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2006. He has been in private practice since 1986. He sat as Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court for periods in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He has been appointed as Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court from March 2013 to February 2019. Ends/Monday, April 1, 2019 Issued at HKT 16:00 NNNN