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2024
Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung today met Shanghai Vice Mayor and Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau Director Zhang Yahong, and visited the Shanghai Customs College (SCC) on day two of his Shanghai trip. Mr Tang told Mr Zhang that the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s law enforcement departments have long maintained close co-operation, achieving remarkable results in areas such as the prevention and combatting of cross-boundary crimes as well as training and exchanges. The security chief also hoped both parties could deepen collaboration and give full play to their respective professional strengths to jointly safeguard national security, prosperity and stability. At the SCC, Mr Tang met its Vice Presidents Yue Long and Wang Xiaogang. Noting that the college and Hong Kong Customs have been collaborating in various aspects of training, he said the SCC has, since last year, been providing training on national studies and Mainland customs duties for all new Customs & Excise Department inspectors to strengthen exchanges. This enhances the professional knowledge and capabilities of customs personnel on both sides to cope with the opportunities and challenges brought by the flows of people and trade in the future, he added. Arriving in Shanghai yesterday, the security chief toured the latest self-service passenger clearance system jointly developed by the Shanghai Airport Authority and the Hongqiao Station of Immigration Inspection. He also visited the Artificial Intelligence Data Center of SenseTime to explore the application of artificial intelligence on security work. Mr Tang will depart for Hangzhou tomorrow.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, leading a Hong Kong delegation of foreign-related legal talent, visited Shenzhen on day two of his trip to Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. Upon their arrival in Shenzhen this morning, they called on Shenzhen Municipal People's Government Deputy Secretary-General Wu Jing. They also met representatives from the Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office of Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, the Justice Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, Shenzhen Lawyers Association and the Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen Municipality. As a result of the meeting, they gained a better understanding of Shenzhen’s latest developments on various fronts, including innovative technology, and explored strengthening co-operation on legal services between the two places. At noon, Mr Lam and the delegation visited the Shenzhen Reform & Opening-Up Exhibition Hall at the Shenzhen Museum to learn more about the city's development and history and achievements of Guangdong's reform and opening up. The group then visited the Shenzhen Qianhai Cooperation Zone People's Court (Qianhai Court) and held discussions with judges from the China International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court, the High People's Court of Guangdong Province and the Qianhai Court. Also participating were representatives from the China International Economic & Trade Arbitration Commission, the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, the Mediation Centre of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shenzhen Municipal Committee, the Benchmark Chambers International & Benchmark International Mediation Center, and Shenzhen lawyers specialising in foreign-related matters. The meeting enabled the delegation to gain a better understanding of the latest developments of the China International Commercial Court and the construction of a multifaceted dispute resolution mechanism. Through discussions on topical issues relating to foreign-related commercial disputes and sharing practical experiences in tackling related issues, participants explored specific directions for the Hong Kong legal sector to make more contributions. The Secretary for Justice and his delegation plan to conclude their visit and return to Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, leading a delegation of over 30 representatives of foreign-related legal talent from Hong Kong, arrived in Guangzhou today for the start of his visit to Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. In the morning, Mr Lam called on the People's Government of Guangdong Province where he met Guangdong Province Vice-Governor Liu Guozhou. Mr Lam also had a meeting with government officials there to learn about the latest developments in Guangdong Province and the bay area. They exchanged views on the opportunities for further co-operation between the Hong Kong legal sector, and the Mainland authorities, legal and business sectors. The meeting was joined by representatives from the province’s Department of Justice, Development & Reform Commission, State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission and the Department of Commerce, as well as the State Council Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office of Guangdong Province. In the afternoon, Mr Lam and the delegation held discussions with representatives from the Guangdong legal and business sectors, including the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Guangdong Committee, the Guangdong Lawyers Association, the Guangdong Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment and the Guangdong Federation of Industry & Commerce. Through exchanges on common practical issues, the two sides explored foreign-related legal issues relevant to Guangdong enterprises going global, including corporate finance and the handling of foreign-related commercial disputes, and shared practical experiences in tackling such issues. The participants also explored how law firms in both places can further co-operate and provide high-quality legal services to jointly contribute to the construction of the country's foreign-related rule of law. In the evening, Mr Lam and the group will visit the Shamian Cluster, one of the heritage revitalisation and conservation projects in Guangzhou, which is a national heritage conservation unit listed by the State Council.
The Security Bureau led its disciplined services to hold the Constitution Day Flag Raising Ceremony at the Customs College on Constitution Day today, with a view to strengthening public understanding of the constitutional basis and order of the country and Hong Kong, as well as promoting the spirit of the Constitution. Secretary for Justice Paul Lam officiated at the ceremony. The disciplined services ceremonial guard and flag party, comprising more than 100 members, performed the Chinese-style foot drill as they marched into the venue where they conducted the flag-raising ceremony during the playing and singing of the national anthem with a fly-past by a helicopter of the Government Flying Service (GFS). The ceremony was concluded by the Customs & Excise Band's military tattoo. Addressing the ceremony, Mr Lam said that Constitution Day has entered its second decade, noting that Hong Kong's constitutional order is based on the Constitution and the Basic Law, which are the root and origin of the city. Apart from highlighting that the Constitution provides the most fundamental and solid legal protection for “one country, two systems”, he stressed that Hong Kong should make full use of all the unique advantages brought about by “one country, two systems” and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests to maintain the city's long-term prosperity and stability. Mr Lam added that public awareness of the Constitution should be nurtured from an early age, and members of the disciplined services should act as guardians and defenders of the Constitution and spare no effort in discharging the duty of safeguarding national security. Participating disciplined services in the flag-raising ceremony included the Customs & Excise Department, the Police Force, the Fire Services Department, the Immigration Department, the Correctional Services Department and the GFS.
In view of the emergency martial law declared in Korea, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today reminded Hong Kong residents who are already there or intend to visit Korea to attend to personal safety. The Immigration Department (ImmD) has contacted the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Korea, the Travel Industry Authority, and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to understand the situation. The ImmD has not received any request for assistance from Hong Kong residents so far. The Hong Kong SAR Government explained that residents who intend to visit Korea or are already there should monitor the situation, exercise caution, attend to personal safety, avoid large gatherings of people and pay attention to local announcements on the latest situation. The Security Bureau, in view of the emergency martial law declared, has already updated the outbound travel alert webpage for Korea and will continue to closely monitor the situation there. Any update will be issued through the media, the bureau's mobile app and webpage. Hong Kong residents in Korea who need assistance can ring the ImmD's 24-hour hotline at (852) 1868, call the 1868 hotline using network data or use the 1868 Chatbot via the department's mobile application. Alternatively, they can send a message to the 1868 WhatsApp assistance hotline or 1868 WeChat assistance hotline, submit an online assistance request form or call the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Korea at (82) 27550572, contact the Chinese Consulate-General in Busan at (82) 1085198748, call the Chinese Consulate-General in Gwangju at (82) 623618880, or contact the Chinese Consulate-General in Jeju at (82) 647228802. Additionally, Hong Kong residents are encouraged to use the online Registration of Outbound Travel Information service to register their contact details and itinerary when outside Hong Kong. The information provided allows the ImmD to disseminate practical information to them through appropriate means and on a timely basis when necessary.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, leading a delegation of over 30 representatives from Hong Kong's legal sector, will depart for a three-day visit to Guangzhou and Shenzhen tomorrow. The delegation comprises representatives from the Law Society of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Bar Association, as well as representatives from local, international and registered foreign law firms, including various non-Chinese lawyers. The group will meet Guangzhou and Shenzhen government representatives to learn more about the latest developments in Guangdong and the Greater Bay Area. They also plan to explore opportunities for further co-operation between the Hong Kong legal sector and Mainland authorities, as well as legal and business sectors of the Mainland. Mr Lam and his delegation will hold discussions with representatives from Guangdong legal and business sectors in Guangzhou and with representatives of Mainland courts and law-related organisations in Shenzhen to discuss various topics of mutual interest and share practical experiences. In addition, they will visit an innovation and technology enterprise's headquarters in Shenzhen and meet its representatives. The Secretary for Justice will return to Hong Kong this Saturday. During his absence, Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan will be Acting Secretary.
The Government will review the eligibility criteria and scope of assistance of the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance (TAVA) Scheme to ensure the scheme’s integrity and proper use of public funds, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun told lawmakers today. Mr Sun said through this review, the Government wishes to ensure that traffic accident victims with genuine needs receive timely assistance while at the same time, preventing abuse and severely punishing criminals who commit fraud cases. He noted that Police arrested a number of people suspected of submitting fraudulent TAVA claims using false medical certificates and other methods. These arrests were indeed prompted by suspicious applications identified by Social Welfare Department (SWD) officers during the application vetting process, in accordance with the established working procedures, Mr Sun added. Over the past three years, or from 2022-23 to end-September in 2024-25, the SWD referred a total of 575 suspicious cases to Police for investigation. Among these cases, 275 people were arrested for allegedly providing false medical certificates to the department to fraudulently obtain TAVA payments. To prevent abuse or fraudulent claims of TAVA, the SWD has reviewed its case vetting workflow and increased random checks of medical certificates submitted by applicants pursuant to the risk-based principle. Furthermore, for cases with repeated applications by the same applicant, the SWD will require these applicants to provide more detailed information about the traffic accidents for investigations. The SWD will also analyse whether the traffic accidents concerned share common features or suspicious elements. For applications involving the Interim Maintenance Grant (IMG), depending on the circumstances of each individual case, such as the length of the period for obtaining the IMG, the SWD will check the applicant’s traffic violation records with Police to verify their eligibility for the grant. The SWD will also clearly explain to the applicants that obtaining TAVA payments by deception is a serious criminal offence. Mr Sun added that apart from losing their eligibility for assistance, applicants may also be prosecuted under the Theft Ordinance, and be liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.
The Government announced today that it will publish the Protection of Critical Infrastructures (Computer Systems) Bill in the Gazette on Friday. Critical infrastructures are infrastructures that are necessary for the maintenance of normal functioning of society and the normal life of people. The bill seeks to impose statutory requirements on designated operators of critical infrastructures to ensure that they take appropriate measures to protect their computer systems and minimise the chance of essential services being disrupted or compromised due to cyberattacks, thereby maintaining the normal functioning of Hong Kong society and the normal life of people. The Security Bureau said there are three categories of statutory obligations under the bill, including organisational obligations, preventive obligations, as well as incident reporting and response obligations. Operators of critical infrastructures are required to set up dedicated management units to oversee their computer-system security, and take preventive measures to enhance their resilience against cyberattacks. When a computer-system security incident occurs, the operator shall report it to a corresponding commissioner’s office, and at the same time take its own response measures to restore the systems in accordance with the emergency response plan it submitted. The commissioner’s office may provide timely assistance and take remedial measures to contain the problem and minimise the chance of affecting other critical infrastructures, so as to maintain the normal operations in Hong Kong society and the normal life of citizens. The bureau stressed that the proposed requirements serve to safeguard computer systems that are critical to the core functions of the critical infrastructure, and in no way target personal data and trade secrets. It also emphasised that operators of critical infrastructures to be regulated will be those necessary for the continuous provision of essential services or maintaining critical societal and economic activities in Hong Kong, most of which are large organisations. Small and medium enterprises and the general public will not be regulated. The bureau noted that in drafting the bill, reference has been made to relevant legislations of other jurisdictions in order to establish a regulatory model suitable for Hong Kong. In addition to holding more than 30 consultation sessions, the bureau also consulted the Legislative Council Panel on Security and launched a one-month consultation exercise. On the whole, the stakeholders and society have responded positively to the legislation, it remarked. The Protection of Critical Infrastructures (Computer Systems) Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for the first and second readings on December 11.
Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung will leave Hong Kong on December 5 for a four-day visit to Shanghai and Hangzhou. While in Shanghai, Mr Tang will meet Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau leaders and visit the Hongqiao Border Control Point and Shanghai Customs College. On December 7, he will then depart for Hangzhou to meet and exchange views with leaders of the Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department. Mr Tang will return to Hong Kong on the evening of December 8. During his absence, Under Secretary for Security Michael Cheuk will be Acting Secretary.
The launch ceremony of the Inter-school National Security Knowledge Challenge for this academic year was held today. The competition is jointly organised by the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Security Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Shine Tak Foundation to further promote national security messages for broader and deeper coverage. In a video speech, Chief Executive John Lee said that with the completion of the local legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law, the newly enacted Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) has achieved compatibility and complementarity with the National Security Law (NSL), together forming a comprehensive legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding national security. He expressed hope that through the quiz, students could gain a deeper and correct understanding of the Constitution and the Basic Law, and strengthen their knowledge of the holistic view of national security, the NSL and the SNSO, thereby enhancing their awareness of upholding civic responsibility and obligation to safeguard national security. Officiating at the ceremony, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said that safeguarding national security is a legal responsibility and it is the duty of all Hong Kong citizens to respect and abide by national security laws. Mr Lam said he is glad that young and energetic students are eager to pursue knowledge of national security and hopes they can stay enthusiastic, keep learning and contribute to building a safe and stable city. The DoJ will continue supporting the rule of law education to rally efforts to safeguard national security, he added. Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung, also officiating at the ceremony, said that new elements were included in the event this year such as expanding the knowledge content to cover the SNSO, setting up an English section for non-Chinese speaking secondary school students, and arranging for final competitions at a shopping mall. He also said the Security Bureau will enhance publicity and promotion of national security education in the coming year to cultivate the concept of "security brings prosperity" in the community. Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin supplemented that the quiz could enhance students' understanding of the rule of law and national affairs as well as their awareness and sense of responsibility to safeguard national security, while reinforcing their sense of patriotism, belonging to and pride towards the country. She expressed gratitude to the schools for their active support for students to participate in the quiz, showing the importance schools have attached to national security education. The quiz comprises primary and secondary school sections as well as an English section for non-Chinese speaking secondary school students. The event attracted more than 126,000 primary and secondary students from 610 schools to take part, an increase of over 20% in participants compared to last year. Nine schools have advanced to the finals scheduled for National Security Education Day on April 15 next year. Highlights of today’s launch ceremony and the challenge will be broadcast at 10.30pm on Sundays starting from December 8 till April 20 next year on the "Our Home Our Country" programme on HOY Infotainment.