The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Hong Kong Monetary Authority Exchange Fund Bills Tender Results:
 

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Hong Kong Monetary Authority Tenders to be held in the week beginning August 20:
 

     The Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, will leave for Beijing this evening (August 14).

     Mr Chan will have a meeting with the China Railway Corporation in the morning on August 16 and return to Hong Kong in the afternoon.

     During his absence, the Under Secretary for Transport and Housing, Dr Raymond So Wai-man, will be the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing.

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (August 13) seized about 316 kilograms of suspected smuggled dried abalone with an estimated market value of about $1.9 million at Man Kam To Control Point.

     Customs officers intercepted two outgoing private cars at Man Kam To Control Point yesterday morning. Upon inspection, Customs officers found the above dried abalone on board the vehicles. A 32-year-old male driver, a 53-year-old female driver and two male passengers, aged 20 and 49, were arrested.

     Investigations are ongoing and the arrested persons have been released on bail pending further investigation.

     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

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

  

     The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) deeply regrets the hosting of a luncheon talk today (August 14) by the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) for an invited speaker to advocate the independence of Hong Kong.
      
     A Government spokesman said, "It is totally inappropriate and unacceptable for any person to openly promote and advocate the independence of Hong Kong.
      
     "As such, it is also totally inappropriate and unacceptable for any organisation to provide a public platform to espouse such views.
      
     "The Basic Law clearly stipulates that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China. Advocating Hong Kong's independence is a blatant violation of the Basic Law and a direct affront to the national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the People's Republic of China.
      
     "Such advocacy runs counter to the successful implementation of 'one country, two systems' and undermines the HKSAR's constitutional and legal foundations as enshrined in the Basic Law."
      
     The spokesman said the HKSAR Government attaches great importance to freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which underpin the success of Hong Kong as an open, vibrant, pluralistic and international city. These are protected by the Basic Law. But such freedoms are not absolute and have to be exercised in accordance with the law.
      
     "We have continuously supported the FCC's work over the decades. However, providing a public platform for a speaker to openly advocate independence completely disregards Hong Kong's constitutional duty to uphold national sovereignty. It is totally unacceptable and deeply regrettable."

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations,

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     The Tourism Commission announces that due to the issuing of Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 3 by the Hong Kong Observatory, "A Symphony of Lights" will be cancelled tonight (August 14).