A 07/08-16

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 23 January 2008 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Business Registration Ordinance (Amendment: Levy Reduction) Order 20084/2008
2.Intercountry Adoption (Contracting States) Order 20085/2008
3.Foreign Lawyers Practice (Amendment) Rules 20076/2008
4.Hazardous Chemicals Control Ordinance (Commencement) Notice7/2008
5.Hazardous Chemicals Control (General) Regulation (Commencement) Notice8/2008
6.Hazardous Chemicals Control (Fees) Regulation (Commencement) Notice9/2008
7.Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Malaysia) Order (Commencement) Notice10/2008

Other Papers

1.No.58-Employees' Compensation Insurance Levies Management Board
Annual Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)

2.No.59-Employees Compensation Assistance Fund Board
Annual Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)

3.No.60-Occupational Deafness Compensation Board
Annual Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)

4.No.61-Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board
Annual Report 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)

5.No.62-Equal Opportunities Commission
Annual Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs)

6.No.63-Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Annual Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

7.No.64-Report on the Administration of the Fire Services Department Welfare Fund, together with the Director of Audit's Report and Audited Statement of Accounts, for the year ended 31 March 2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

8.No.65-Annual Report 2006-2007 of the Hospital Authority, which contains Statement of Accounts and Auditors' Report
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)

9.No.66-Report and Statement of Accounts of the Samaritan Fund, together with the Director of Audit's Report, for the year ended 31 March 2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)

II. Questions

1. Hon Vincent FANG Kang to ask: (Translation)

The hawker permitted area ("HPA") located at Tong Choi Street (commonly known as "Women's Street") in Mongkok has 1 052 fixed pitch stall positions, but owing to natural attrition or voluntary surrender of licences for cancellation, there were 321 vacant stalls at Women's Street as at mid 2007. The situation of vacant stalls at Women's Street has given rise to a number of problems, including difficulties in attracting people to the sections with a relatively high vacancy rate, which affect the business of the stalls there; vacant stalls being occupied by unlicensed hawkers, with many of them selling pirated goods, which tarnishes Women's Street's or even Hong Kong's retail business image; and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department prosecuting hawkers in HPA for illegally occupying adjacent vacant stalls, which has even led to confrontations between the two sides recently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of prosecutions instituted last year by the Government against illegal hawking, sale of pirated goods or illegal extension of business area at Women's Street; and

    (b)of the arrangements to be made by the Government regarding the above vacant stalls, whether it will plan to reduce the area of Women's Street; or whether it will arrange hawkers in other districts to operate those stalls; if there are no plans for the time being to arrange other hawkers to operate those stalls, whether the Government will consider leasing, through short-term tenancies, the above vacant stalls to the hawkers operating the adjacent stalls, so as to revitalize Women's Street, until it makes other arrangements regarding the usage of those stalls?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

2. Hon Daniel LAM Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that accidents in which Light Rail ("LR") passengers who are blind fell from platforms onto railway tracks had occurred time and again recently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)at present, which LR stations have tactile guide paths installed at their platforms and the details of such facilities, and whether the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") will install such facilities at all other LR platforms; if so, of the details of the installation plan; and

    (b)in addition to the above facilities and other relevant existing facilities, whether MTRCL has studied the adoption of other measures to enhance the safety of passengers, especially blind people, when awaiting or boarding trains at LR platforms?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

3. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of non-local media organisations and journalists based in Hong Kong as of 1st January 2007 and 1st January 2008;

    (b)whether the Government has any policy to attract more non-local media organisations and journalists to base themselves in Hong Kong; if it has such a policy, of the nature of the policy; and

    (c)whether the Government has provided assistance to non-local media organizations and journalists in Hong Kong to gain a better understanding of the rapid development of the Pearl River Delta region where Hong Kong is situated; if so, of the nature of that assistance?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

4. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

To stabilize grain supply and prices on the Mainland, the Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") has imposed quota control and a tariff up to 25% on the export of grain flour (such as wheat flour) with effect from the 1st of this month, causing a short supply and soaring prices of flour in Hong Kong early this month and, as a result, a rise in retail prices of foodstuffs of which the raw material is flour (e.g. bread and noodles). However, officials of the State Council clarified on the 8th of this month that the said tariff measure was not applicable to grain flour exported to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it knew the aforesaid export control and tariff measures before the relevant announcement by MOFCOM; if so, whether it has formulated measures to deal with the situation; if not, whether it has assessed if this reflects inadequate communication between the relevant authorities of the Mainland and Hong Kong, and if it is necessary to review the relevant communication mechanism;

    (b)it has assessed the impact of the aforesaid export control on the trades concerned and the people in Hong Kong; of the long-term measures to deal with the situation, such as whether it will consider implementing a system of keeping reserves of staple food; and

    (c)it knows what other measures which the mainland authorities will soon introduce to stabilize food supply and prices on the Mainland; if so, whether it has assessed the impact of such measures on inflation in Hong Kong?
Public Officers to reply :Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Secretary for Food and Health

5. Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit to ask: (Translation)

Although the Government had urged the franchisee operating the Western Harbour Crossing ("WHC") to take into account public affordability and acceptability in setting the tolls, the franchisee still decided to increase, with effect from the 6th of this month, the tolls under the guise of reduction in concessions. Moreover, in 1997 and 2004, the franchisee operating the Eastern Harbour Crossing ("EHC") twice submitted the toll increase case to arbitration after the Government had rejected its applications on grounds of insufficient justifications. EHC subsequently increased the tolls based on the outcomes of the arbitrations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it has assessed if the aforesaid situation indicates that the existing legislation and agreements pertaining to WHC and EHC have failed to make the franchisees to take into account factors such as the economic situation of Hong Kong and public interests in setting the tolls; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether it has formulated improvement measures; if it has, of their implementation schedules; if the assessment result is in the negative, of the justifications; and

    (b)it will draw up measures to set the tolls of the three road harbour crossings at appropriate levels (such as conducting short-term experiments with public funds to examine the impact of introducing standard tolls at the three tunnels on traffic flow), so as to relieve the traffic pressure on the Cross Harbour Tunnel at Hung Hom and enhance the overall efficiency of cross harbour traffic; if it will, of the specific details and implementation dates of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

6. Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung to ask: (Translation)

People in the freight industry have pointed out that as the ancillary facilities in the vicinity of the Shenzhen port area of the Shenzhen Bay Port ("SBP") are seriously inadequate, the number of vehicles crossing the boundary via SBP has been on the low side. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of different classes of vehicles crossing the boundary via SBP since its commissioning in July last year; how such figures compare to those of other control points for the same period, and whether it has assessed if SBP can achieve the function of diverting traffic flows;

    (b)given that the Government had advised in October last year that it would convey to the relevant Shenzhen authorities the trade's comments on the ancillary facilities and the road network, of the latest progress and the outcome of the relevant discussions, and the estimated time for completing the ancillary facilities and the road network concerned; and

    (c)of the new concrete measures to be implemented to enhance the utilization of SBP, so as to alleviate the traffic congestion at other control points?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*7. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)

In 2003, the Government issued smart identity ("ID") cards embedded with chips and introduced the concept of multi-function card, which enabled the public to use the card as a driving licence and a public library card. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the government representatives who attended the meetings of the Council and of its Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting had time and again said that the Government was studying the replacement of driving licences with smart ID cards, of the latest progress of the study and the funding required, whether the study will be completed by the end of this year as scheduled, and whether a timetable will be set for the implementation of the project;

    (b)of the current number of smart ID cards which are embedded with the public library card function and the number of person-times this function was used last year; and

    (c)apart from adding to the smart ID cards the functions of booking sports and leisure facilities, checking driving licence data, e-Certs and public library cards, whether the authorities have conducted any studies on the use of smart ID cards to support other functions; if they have, of the details of the study (including details of the additional functions under consideration)?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*8. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Hong Kong has been importing chilled pork from the Mainland since August 2006, but the prices of pork have continued to rise sharply since last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in each month last year, of the average wholesale price of chilled pork, how the increases in such average wholesale prices compare with those in the average wholesale prices of fresh pork for the same period, the respective average quantities of pork imported from the Mainland and other regions, as well as the percentage of chilled pork in the total pork consumption in Hong Kong;

    (b)of the current number of chilled pork processing plants on the Mainland permitted to supply chilled pork to Hong Kong; and whether the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has deployed staff to inspect such processing plants since the importation of chilled pork from the Mainland; if so, the number and the outcome of the inspections conducted; and

    (c)whether the Government will shortly discuss increasing the number of the above processing plants and the supply of chilled pork with the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine; if so, of the relevant details and the expected increase in supply next year; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*9. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Number 3 alarm fire at Por Lo Shan in Tuen Mun early this month was suspected to have been caused by kindling materials left behind by people negligently. The hill fire burnt for two days and nights, destroying vegetation in an area of 800-hectare, which is equivalent to a total area of 42 Victoria Parks. It is estimated that at least 10 years are needed to restore the vegetation destroyed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)last year, of the number of hill fires, the number and total area of trees destroyed, the economic losses involved, the respective numbers of hill fires the causes of which involved human negligence or were unknown, the number of people convicted because of those hill fires and their penalties, and how such figures compare to the relevant figures of 2006;

    (b)whether it will reconsider increasing the current maximum penalty (i.e. a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for one year) for lighting a fire in or near any forest, plantation or area of open countryside so as to enhance the deterrent effect; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will consider specifying a fire emergency period to strictly prohibit the lighting of any fire in the area of certain designated country parks during a certain period of time each year or when the relative humidity is lower than the prescribed level; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*10. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that information from the Student Financial Assistance Agency indicates that there were more than 6 300 cases of post-secondary students defaulting loan repayment in the 2006-2007 academic year, almost 10% more than those in the 2005-2006 academic year, and the amount involved was $117 million; at the same time, the number of graduates filing for bankruptcy to evade repayment of loans had rapidly increased by 40%. Moreover, since the 2005-2006 academic year, the Agency has referred to the Police 67 cases involving deception in loan application for investigation. A study also found that nearly 10% of university students used loans, which were obtained from the Agency's Non-means Tested Loan Scheme, to speculate in stocks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has:
    (a)analyzed the reasons for the increase in cases of students defaulting loan repayment; if it has, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)plans to take proactive measures to minimize cases of default in loan repayment; if it has, of the details of such plans; and

    (c)plans to cooperate with various post-secondary institutions to step up publicity and education in respect of student financial assistance and loan schemes in order to curb the misuse of loans or default in loan repayment?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*11. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research ("SCOLAR") announced in October last year that $200 million would be allocated from the Language Fund to implement a four-year scheme to assist primary and secondary schools in using Putonghua to teach the Chinese Language subject. The scheme is now open to applications, and the annual numbers of primary and secondary schools that can join the scheme are limited to 30 and 10 respectively. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether they know:
    (a)how the authorities help those schools which have not reached the standard required for using Putonghua to teach the Chinese Language subject to raise their competence in this respect;

    (b)the current number of primary and secondary school teachers in the territory whose Putonghua proficiency is already up to the standard required for participating in the aforesaid scheme; whether the authorities will provide additional resources for teachers to learn Putonghua; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)the reasons why, before launching the aforesaid scheme, SCOLAR had spent three years to carry out studies to keep track of the effectiveness of using Putonghua to teach the Chinese Language subject in 20 primary and secondary schools, and yet it had not consulted the education sector extensively on this scheme?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*12. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)

On combating the smuggling of goods into and out of Hong Kong by law-breakers, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the respective types and values of goods, seized by the authorities over the past two years, which were being smuggled into and out of Hong Kong via sea, land and air;

    (b)the types of goods the smuggling of which is increasingly serious and the channels more and more commonly used for smuggling by law-breakers, as revealed from the figures above; and whether the authorities have looked into the relevant causes; and

    (c)the new smuggling methods employed by law-breakers as detected by the authorities in recent years, and whether it has assessed if the employment of such smuggling methods has made it more difficult to combat such smuggling activities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*13. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)

According to the 2008 Digital 21 Strategy announced by the Government earlier, the Government will migrate to the Internet Protocol version 6 in its internal network in 2008 to replace the existing version 4. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the timetable and public funds needed for implementing the above plan;

    (b)whether it has drawn up a work plan to coordinate various government departments in migrating to the new protocol smoothly; if it has, of the details of the work plan; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)whether it has assessed if the Government's migration to the new protocol will affect access to e-government services by the general public; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the relevant details; and

    (d)whether it will, by way of the Government's migration to the new protocol, motivate the local science and technology sector to research on and develop more services and products for supporting the new protocol; if it will, of the details of the specific plan and the estimated resources to be injected?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*14. Hon Daniel LAM Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the car parks in the public housing estates in the New Territories, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of a breakdown by District Council districts of the current average vacancy rates of the parking spaces in the car parks mentioned above;

    (b)of the public housing estates in which there are a lot of vacant parking spaces in their car parks, and whether it has studied the causes of this situation; if it has, of the outcome;

    (c)whether it has studied changing the use of the car parks mentioned in (b); if so, of the outcome of the study; and

    (d)whether the car parks mentioned in (b) will be made available to social enterprises free of charge to support and promote the setting up of social enterprises in the neighbourhood of residential areas and create employment opportunities in the community?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*15. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the water in some pools inside the leisure parks managed by the Housing Department or the Leisure and Cultural Services Department is over 50 centimetres ("cm") deep and the water in one pool is even 90 cm deep. It has also been reported that there are hidden corners, lighting facilities are insufficient and there are no fences around some of the pools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in the past three years, of the number of cases of members of the public accidentally falling into the pools of the above leisure parks and the number of casualties involved;

    (b)whether it has measures to prevent members of the public (especially children) from falling into such pools accidentally; if it has, of the details of the relevant measures; if not, whether it will review if it is necessary to take measures to prevent such accidents; and

    (c)of the criteria and guidelines for designing such pools adopted by government departments or contractors responsible for building them; and whether the Government will, focusing on the hazards posed by such pools to members of the public, review the relevant standards and guidelines?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*16. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

At its Session on 29 December last year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("NPCSC") decided that the selection of the fourth Chief Executive ("CE") in 2012 shall not be implemented by the method of universal suffrage, and the election of the fifth term Legislative Council ("LegCo") in 2012 shall not be implemented by the method of electing all the members by universal suffrage. The NPCSC Session is of the view that the fifth CE may be selected by universal suffrage in 2017, and that after CE is selected by universal suffrage, all LegCo members may be elected by universal suffrage. Furthermore, CE has affirmed in his report to NPCSC that more that half of the public support the implementation of dual universal suffrage for CE and LegCo ("dual universal suffrage") in 2012. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)although NPCSC has ruled out the implementation of dual universal suffrage in 2012, there are still more than four years between now and 2012, whether CE will submit a report to NPCSC again to reiterate that the implementation of dual universal suffrage in 2012 is supported by more that half of the public, and to urge the Central Authorities to respect the wish of the people of Hong Kong and allow the implementation of dual universal suffrage in 2012 in Hong Kong;

    (b)how they ensure that the fifth CE will be selected by universal suffrage in 2017 and all LegCo members will be elected by universal suffrage in 2020; and

    (c)how they ensure that the future models for selecting CE and electing all LegCo members by universal suffrage will comply with the principle of universal and equal suffrage enshrined in international treaties on human rights?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*17. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the total number of Octopus cards issued by Octopus Cards Limited ("OCL") so far, and the percentage of such cards returned;

    (b)the respective numbers of reports of defective Octopus cards and faulty deduction, the causes for such cases, and the time normally taken by OCL to complete the handling of such cases; and

    (c)the progress of OCL's plans to promote the use of Octopus cards on the Mainland (such as for fare payment on the Shenzhen Metro), and whether technical difficulties are involved?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

In his Policy Address delivered last year, the Chief Executive said that the Financial Secretary would "undertake a study to clarify the Government's role, and its level of participation as a shareholder, in the management of its assets operated on commercial principles". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the government assets covered in the study, as well as the details, objectives and timetable of the study;

    (b)whether the study will include public consultation; and

    (c)in order to support the Chief Executive's appeal in his Policy Address that enterprises should also shoulder social responsibility, whether the Government will consider taking the lead by incorporating the fulfilment of social responsibility in the operating principles of such government assets?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*19. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Government allocated $3.4 billion to assist University Grants Committee-funded institutions in expanding their campus space for supporting the implementation of the normative four-year undergraduate programme under the new academic structure for senior secondary education and higher education (the "3+3+4 academic structure"). It has also been reported that due to the rise in construction costs, the costs of such projects have continued to increase. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the progress and expenditure of the above projects as at the end of last year, and the progress and expenditure anticipated for the coming year;

    (b)whether it knows the factors causing the increase or decrease of the project costs last year, and of the factors it anticipates will affect those costs this year, and the respective expenditure items which had been and will be affected and the percentage of the changes;

    (c)given the rise in construction costs, whether the Government has assessed if the above provision of $3.4 billion is still sufficient for various institutions to carry out the above projects; if such an assessment has been made, of the results; if the assessment results indicate that the provision is insufficient to cover the project costs, of the difference in the amounts concerned; if such an assessment has not been made, the reasons for that;

    (d)whether the Government will bear the expenditure which exceeds the project estimates; if not, how the Government will assist the institutions concerned in meeting the additional expenditure; and

    (e)of the monitoring measures to ensure that the above projects can be completed on schedule, in order to facilitate the smooth implementation of the 3+3+4 academic structure?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*20. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)

I have learnt that the Hospital Authority plans to demolish Nursing Quarter - Block A in Queen Mary Hospital this year for the construction of an integrated centre to provide acute trauma and cardiac care. Quite a number of staff from the hospital and conservationists consider that the 70-year-old building should be preserved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has fully assessed the historic and conservation value of the building; if it has, of the results; and

    (b)given that the Chief Executive indicated in last year's Policy Address that the Government "will require all public works projects involving historic and built heritage to undergo heritage impact assessment so that the conservation of historic sites and buildings will be given due consideration in the project planning stage", how this measure is being implemented by the Government in the above project, so that the building can be preserved?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*For written reply.

III. Members' Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Declaration of C. W. Chu College, Wu Yee Sun College and Lee Woo Sing College as Constituent Colleges) Bill :Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong

IV. Members' Motions

  1. Ensuring the conduct of fair elections

    Hon Audrey EU: (Translation)

    That, as there were a number of incidents of violence and intimidation which were allegedly related to elections during the District Council Election and the Legislative Council Hong Kong Island Geographical Constituency By-election at the end of last year, and there were controversies arising from grey areas in various aspects such as the use of exit poll results, the employment of electoral staff and the provision of community services, etc, causing the public to query whether the election results might have been affected; this Council urges the Government to review existing legislation and guidelines, and take appropriate measures to improve the regulation of various acts related to elections, so as to ensure that the various levels of election are conducted fairly.

    Amendment to motion
    Hon TAM Yiu-chung:     (Translation)

    To delete "and" after "incidents of violence" and substitute with ","; to add "and provocation" after "intimidation"; and to add "distributing ad hoc election news in the constituencies by media syndicates on the polling day, and releasing television and MTR advertisements by media syndicates echoing the campaign slogans of individual candidates," after "the use of exit poll results,".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

  2. Introducing legislative amendments to open up community radio stations

    Hon James TO: (Translation)

    That existing legislation restricts the setting up of community radio stations by the public and the Government has unrestricted power to reject the applications from members of the public for a licence to operate a radio station, which has led to criminal prosecution against members of the public for setting up and participating in community radio stations, thus depriving the public of the right to express opinions through different channels and violating human rights; this Council urges the Government to amend the Telecommunications Ordinance and the Broadcasting Ordinance to open up public service broadcasting, including setting up channels for digital television and radio broadcasting for use by the public and allowing the community to set up and operate radio and television broadcasting services, so as to safeguard the freedom of speech of the public.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon CHAN Kam-lam: (Translation)

    To delete "restricts the setting up of community radio stations by the public and the Government has unrestricted power to reject the applications from members of the public" after "That existing legislation" and substitute with "stipulates that members of the public and organizations must, prior to the setting up of radio stations, apply to the Government"; to delete "which has led" after "operate a radio station," and substitute with "members of the public who conduct and participate in illegal broadcasting are liable"; to delete "against members of the public for setting up and participating in community radio stations, thus depriving the public of the right to express opinions through different channels and violating human rights" after "criminal prosecution"; to add "to make the public fully aware of the factors that the Government will take into consideration in issuing licences and to allow them to express opinions through different channels," before "this Council"; to delete "Government to amend" after "urges the" and substitute with "Administration to, under the principle of protecting freedom of speech of the public while ensuring that legitimate communications will not be interfered, review"; and to delete "to open up public service broadcasting, including setting up channels for digital television and radio broadcasting for use by the public and allowing the community to set up and operate radio and television broadcasting services, so as to safeguard the freedom of speech of the public" immediately before the full stop.

    (ii)Hon Albert HO: (Translation)

    To add "face up to the long-term aspirations of the community for opening up the airwaves and public service broadcasting, and immediately" after "this Council urges the Government to".

    (iii)Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung: (Translation)

    To add "immediately undertake to expeditiously" after "this Council urges the Government to"; and to add "and abolish the existing privilege enjoyed by the Chief Executive in the issue of licences which is contrary to protecting freedom of speech as provided in the Basic Law," after "public service broadcasting,".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

Clerk to the Legislative Council