Council Meeting (Agenda) 17 March 2021

4 items of subsidiary legislation and 8 other papers to be laid on the Table of the Council set out in Appendix 1

Members to ask 22 questions (6 for oral replies and 16 for written replies)

Contents of 22 questions, Members to ask such questions and public officers to reply set out in Appendix 2

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 394/20-21 issued on 12 March 2021)

Public officer to attend : Secretary for Development

Hon Jimmy NG to ask:

As the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to the economy of Hong Kong, the Government has launched one after another two tranches of the Employment Support Scheme ("ESS") to provide financial support for eligible employers to assist them in paying employees' wages from June to August and from September to November last year respectively, thereby retaining those employees who may otherwise be made redundant. Regarding the Government's support for those employers and employees affected by the epidemic, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Martin LIAO to ask:

Since last year, a number of international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have, one after another and on a number of occasions, called on the governments of various countries to promote a post-epidemic "green recovery" of their economies, and to steer their economic revitalization measures along the direction of green and low-carbon transformation and sustainable development. China has also called on various countries to seize the historic opportunities presented by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and promote a post-epidemic green recovery of the world economy. The Hong Kong SAR Government has also stated that it will support a green recovery of the economy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:

Due to the rampant epidemic, it has been months since cruise vessels last berthed at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal ("KTCT"). The KTCT operator has pointed out that in the past, most of the cruise passengers experienced great inconvenience as they had to queue up for a long time, while carrying bulky luggage, for taxis to travel to and from KTCT and hotels, the airport or their homes. On the other hand, in respect of six sites near KTCT originally reserved for hotel use, the Government has rezoned four of them for building residential flats, and is studying the rezoning of the remaining two sites for residential use as well. Some members of the tourism industry consider that the Government should expeditiously improve the ancillary transport and accommodation facilities of KTCT, so as to offer a better travel experience for the cruise passengers who will return after the epidemic has come to an end. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask:

There are views that the Government should optimize the use of the lands surrounding various boundary crossings in the New Territories in order to develop port economy and increase housing supply. However, the Government has not made holistic considerations in respect of the development of such lands, resulting in large tracts of agricultural land and fish ponds having been left deserted for a long time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:

From the 23rd to the 24th of January this year, the Government set up a "restricted area" in Jordan, arranged for persons within the area to take a test for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 and distributed to each of them a food pack which contained four cans of canned food of different types (three of which were cans with easy-to-open covers). Those persons staying in the guesthouses within the area (including journalists) were also distributed food packs. A news report of Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK") pointed out that "no can opener nor cooking implement is provided in the guesthouse", and attached a photo of a food pack in which none of the cans showed the side with a ring pull. Some members of the public have criticized that the photo, by wilfully hiding the ring pulls of the cans, misled readers into thinking that all the cans could only be opened with a can opener. RTHK issued a statement, countering the criticisms as smear accusations which it severely condemned, and insisting that the news report had stated the facts. However, a newspaper which had published a similar photo subsequently issued a statement, in which it stated that the photo concerned had been removed as the photo was misleading, admitted its oversight and made an apology. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon Junius HO to ask:

Article 7 of the National Security Law for Hong Kong, which has been implemented since 30 June last year, stipulates that "[t]he Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall complete, as early as possible, legislation for safeguarding national security as stipulated in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and shall refine relevant laws". In other words, the Hong Kong SAR should, pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law, enact laws on its own to prohibit acts endangering national security. The Government has also repeatedly indicated that the Hong Kong SAR has a constitutional obligation to enact legislation on Article 23 of the Basic Law. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

To cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, in March last year, the Government launched the Local Mask Production Subsidy Scheme to subsidize manufacturers to produce face masks ("masks") locally, and introduced a special call under the Public Sector Trial Scheme to support product development and application of technologies for the prevention and control of the epidemic in Hong Kong. On supporting the manufacturing industry and promoting re-industrialization, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Michael TIEN to ask:

The Government decided in June last year to invest in Cathay Pacific Airways Limited ("CX") to help it tide over the predicament it was facing amid the epidemic. On the other hand, CX announced in October last year a business restructuring plan under which some 8 500 positions were to be cut. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to ask:

The Education Bureau ("EDB") issued circulars to schools across the territory on the 4th of last month to provide guidelines on school administration and education in respect of safeguarding national security. In addition, EDB has compiled the Curriculum Framework of National Security Education in Hong Kong ("the Framework") to assist schools in implementing national security education. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask:

The Government launched in 2017 the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth ("MSSY") to provide opportunities for young people for policy discussion and enable them to understand government operation. Under MSSY, persons aged between 18 and 35 may self-nominate to become members of 10 specified advisory and statutory bodies. The Government has implemented three phases of MSSY so far, and will raise the number of participating bodies to 15 starting from Phase IV. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask:

It has been reported that since the number of people visiting the countryside for recreation and amenity ("hikers") increased sharply last year as compared with those of the previous years, the number of mountain search and rescue ("S&R") calls received by the relevant government departments in the same period rose correspondingly. In addition, quite a number of hikers committed unlawful acts during their visits to the countryside, such as littering and improper disposal of cigarette butts, causing damage to trees and recreational facilities, as well as barbecuing or cooking outside designated places. Regarding S&R and patrol work in the countryside, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon YIU Si-wing to ask:

The Government launched the Employment Support Scheme ("ESS") under the Anti-epidemic Fund last year to provide wage subsidies to eligible employers in two tranches for paying the wages of their employees from June to August and from September to November last year. As the Government has not provided wage subsidies any longer since December last year, and Hong Kong's economy has not shown any improvement, quite a number of employers have one after another laid off their employees to cut expenses. On the other hand, the latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 7%, hitting a record high in 17 years, with the number of unemployed persons reaching as high as 250 000. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Starry LEE to ask:

To cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") epidemic, the Government has invoked, on a number of occasions since March last year, the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirement and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) to direct various types of scheduled premises to suspend operation on specified dates, with the period of suspension ranging from 44 to 200-odd days in total. Some operators of such premises have indicated that as they still need to meet expenses such as rent despite suffering substantial reduction of income, they are now at the end of their tether and on the brink of closing down. They have also pointed out that the Government did not make decisions on whether the scheduled premises were required to suspend operation on the basis of objective criteria. For instance, cinemas, where only passive activities are involved and customers can wear a face mask at all times, have been required to suspend operation for a greater number of days than swimming pools, where active activities are involved and customers can hardly wear a face mask. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon SHIU Ka-fai to ask:

The Government allocated $130 million in 2014 for the implementation of three measures related to the manpower development of the retail industry, including implementing an Earn and Learn Pilot Scheme for Retail Industry, raising the retail industry's image and setting up a Retail Technologies Adoption Fund for Manpower Demand Management. Regarding the measures to support the sustained development of the retail industry, will the Government inform this Council:

Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask:

It has been reported that while quite a number of enterprises have frozen or reduced their headcount because they have been affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, certain information technology-related industries have been unable to recruit adequate manpower to take up newly created posts. Such a situation reflects that there is a mismatch in the employment market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:

According to the forecast in the Budget published last month, the Government will record deficits in the coming five financial years. Under the situation that the fiscal reserves will continue to dwindle, quite a number of retired and serving civil servants and judicial officers who are entitled to pensions are worried whether the Government is able to continuously fulfill its obligation to make pension payments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask:

Will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

To cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, the Government implemented, on several occasions since early last year, special work arrangements ("special arrangements") under which all government employees, save for those involved in the provision of emergency and essential public services, worked from home. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask:

The Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") issued a statement on virtual asset trading platforms ("VATPs") in November 2018, setting out a conceptual framework ("the framework") that aims to explore a pathway for compliance for VATP operators who are willing to be supervised by SFC. Under the framework, SFC will, in its Regulatory Sandbox, explore whether VATPs are suitable for regulation, and will observe the operation in the Sandbox environment of those VATP operators who are interested in engaging in the relevant business, and whether they are able to comply with the proposed regulatory requirements; if SFC is of the view, at the end of that stage, that it is appropriate to regulate the VATP operators concerned, it will consider granting licences. SFC announced in December 2020 that it had granted the first licence to a VATP in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:

Quite a number of members of the public have relayed that the waiting time for admission to subsidized residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs") has become longer and longer due to the persistent shortage of the places therein, and carers taking care of elderly persons single-handedly at home bear tremendous pressure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask:

It has been reported that the price of bitcoins, one of the virtual currencies, has surged recently, arousing investors' interest in trading virtual currencies. At present, investors may conduct, in cash and without using any trading platform, over-the-counter ("OTC") trading of virtual currencies. Taking advantage of the anonymity inherent in virtual currencies and the absence of regulation of such tradings by the authorities, some lawbreakers, posing as a trading counterparty, deceived and even robbed investors who traded virtual currencies with them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask:

It has been reported that there was an increase in the number of people cycling for leisure and delivering takeaway food amid the rampant Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic in Hong Kong last year. There are often takeaway food couriers cycling in urban areas on roads in the opposite direction of the traffic or on pavements, causing dangerous situations frequently. As shown in the information of the Transport Department, the number of traffic accidents involving bicycles rose from 1 942 and 1 839 in 2018 and 2019 respectively to 2 947 in 2020. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: