Tag Archives: China

     In response to media enquiries, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government made the following response today (May 29) to the Hong Kong Policy Act Report issued by the US Department of State:

     “Since the return to the Motherland, the HKSAR has been exercising a high degree of autonomy and ‘Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong’ in strict accordance with the Basic Law. This demonstrates the full and successful implementation of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, which has been widely recognised by the international community.

     “Foreign governments should not interfere in any form in the internal affairs of the HKSAR.” read more

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, at a media session at Central Government Offices, Tamar, after the Fight Crime Committee meeting this afternoon (May 29):

Reporter: Mr Lee, there has been a sharp rise in several drugs seized in the first quarter, especially ecstasy. Is there a particular reason? Secondly, there is also, as you mentioned, a rise in online dating scams. Despite a previous publicity campaign, it still continues to rise. Is it because the previous campaign was not targeted enough? Thank you.

Secretary for Security: In respect of ecstasy, first of all it is not the most popular drug in Hong Kong, so the demand has not gone up. And it is not because of the demand that the seizure has gone up. The seizure actually reflects a few things. First, I think it is the effectiveness of the intelligence system. If you look at the big seizure of ecstasy, the Customs and Excise Department intercepted, in quite a number of cases, ecstasy in large quantity. And the Police also, in their enforcement in the territory, have neutralised several syndicates, in which the amount of seizure was high. For example, in one single case, the number of ecstasy pills that was seized amounted to over 6 000. And the third thing is, there has been very good co-operation with the Mainland and the international law enforcement agencies in the fight against drugs, which reflects in the amount of seizure. Another thing that we can draw from the statistics is some of the ecstasy pills that have come to Hong Kong are not mainly targeted for local consumption. As I explained, the demand has not really gone up. We assess that a lot (of ecstasy) will be taken out of Hong Kong to other markets. But that trend does not seem to be a very steady trend yet. So it may just reflect a periodic modus operandi. But I think what is important in the fight against drugs is an effective intelligence network and a very smooth co-operation system with agencies outside Hong Kong.

Reporter: And also the online romance scam?    

Secretary for Security: The romance scam has gone up two times. That is the statistics. Our experience with deception of this kind is, first of all, it has been high because of the low risk that the culprit has to face. And it almost lacks cost that he has to put into the scam. So, that means whatever we do, there will be culprits because there will not be a lot of risks, and not a lot of costs for them.

      Publicity and propaganda will help. Because as I explained earlier, in connection with the scam involving WhatsApp, after the Police’s publicity, the figure has dropped in April by something like almost 80 per cent from the March figure. So publicity works, but publicity does take time. It has to repeat every now and then. That is what the Police will be doing and also something I would request your assistance in making sure that the modus operandi is made as widely known as possible.                      

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) read more

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will progressively extend the scheme on installation of Internet Protocol (IP) cameras at illegal refuse deposit blackspots to all districts starting from June 6 to combat il… read more

     Police today (May 29) appealed to the public for information on a girl who went missing in Chai Wan.      Yeung Man-wa, aged 15, went missing after she was last seen on Tai On Street on May 16 m… read more

     â€‹Following are the opening remarks by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, at the STARTIT.Asia Hong Kong 2nd Edition Startup & Ecosystem Mixer today (May 29):
      
Consul General (Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong and Macao, Mr Antonello De Riu), Luca (President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao, Mr Luca Cico), Mr Cucino (Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Mr Davide Cucino), Mr Sbuttoni (Partner at Baker&McKenzie, Mr Paolo Sbuttoni), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
      
     Good evening. It’s my great pleasure to join you again at the STARTIT.Asia. First of all, congratulations to the success of the first edition of STARTIT.Asia last year. It’s great to see the programme taking root in Hong Kong. I am also delighted to see so many aspiring technology entrepreneurs from Italy who find Hong Kong the right place to explore business opportunities. This is an excellent testimonial to Hong Kong’s ability to attract and blend the best ideas and talents from all over the world. It also helps strengthen the bilateral relationship between Hong Kong and Italy on the innovation and technology (I&T) front.
      
     According to a survey conducted by Invest Hong Kong in 2017, the number of start-ups has grown over 16 per cent, compared to those in 2016. Co-working spaces have been gaining momentum in Hong Kong. Internationally renowned co-working space operators are expanding their presence in Hong Kong, accelerating the innovation and technology ecosystem and disrupting the office leasing market. What’s more, co-working spaces offer entrepreneurs an affordable and flexible way to grow and expand their businesses in this Asia’s world city.
      
     Hong Kong’s innovation and technology infrastructure is also fast developing in the past few years. Three new submarine cables providing direct links between Hong Kong and the US are in the pipeline. Investors include Facebook, Google, Telstra and NEC. They have chosen Hong Kong as a landing point for their huge investments in the three submarine cables, which are the Pacific Light Cable Network, the Hong Kong-Guam and the Hong Kong Americas Submarine Cable Systems. On cloud services, Google is going to open a Google Cloud Platform region in Hong Kong this year. And Amazon Web Services will also launch an AWS region here in Hong Kong. These again show the big players are also placing their bets on Hong Kong as the data hub of the region.
      
     Just a few days ago, Hong Kong was ranked the second most competitive economy globally, out of the 63 economies assessed in the International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2018. Among the four main competitiveness factors used in the IMD ranking, Hong Kong maintained the No. 1 position in “Government efficiency” and “Business efficiency”, both for the fourth consecutive year.
      
     Hong Kong has unique competitive edges, such as the close proximity to the fast-growing China market, a competitive tax regime, the rule of law, an open and free market and a can-do mindset in the business sector. On top of these, the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government will continue its role as a promoter and facilitator to drive innovation and technology development.
      
     As announced by the Chief Executive in the 2017 Policy Address, we have mapped out a clear direction for Hong Kong’s I&T development using an eight-pronged approach. In the 2018-19 Budget, the Financial Secretary unprecedentedly allocated more than $50 billion to accelerate the I&T development in Hong Kong, through nurturing start-ups and promoting industries and R&D collaboration, as well as investing in infrastructure development. The financial commitment and significant investment in both software and hardware help build a vibrant ecosystem for start-ups here in Hong Kong – more than ever before.
      
     Tax incentives will be rolled out with a view to encouraging enterprises to conduct more R&D in Hong Kong. A 300 per cent super tax deduction will be provided to the first $2 million of qualifying R&D expenditure conducted in Hong Kong, and a 200 per cent tax deduction will be provided for the remaining balance. And there is no cap for the amount of tax deduction.  This is a major policy breakthrough for Hong Kong.
      
     In addition, we believe Hong Kong can leverage the world-class R&D capacity of our local universities, particularly in the fields of healthcare technologies and artificial intelligence/robotics technologies. The Government has earmarked $10 billion to support the establishment of two research clusters in the Hong Kong Science Park in these areas, so as to attract world-class scientific research institutions and technology enterprises to Hong Kong, and to join forces with our local universities and research institutions in conducting more R&D projects, nurturing more technology talent in Hong Kong.
      
     In addition, $10 billion is allocated to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation for building shared research infrastructure and facilities, as well as enhancing support for its incubatees and tenants. Another $200 million is allocated to Cyberport for enhancing support for start-ups and boosting the development of a digital technology ecosystem. Cyberport will also strengthen its incubation programme and put forward new measures to attract multinational companies to set up offices and R&D units in Hong Kong.
      
     To meet the needs of the I&T sector, the Government will roll out the Technology Talent Admission Scheme. This pilot scheme, which applies to incubatees and tenants of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and Cyberport, provides a fast-track arrangement for eligible technology companies/institutes to admit top-notch research and development talent from around the world with a pre-approved quota. Successful companies will also be required to engage three local employees to work in technology areas for every three talents admitted from outside of Hong Kong. I believe the scheme will help augment our talent pool and provide more training and job opportunities for our local people.
      
     Global economic gravity is shifting to Asia. Hong Kong will ride on major national strategies, including the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development and the Belt and Road Initiative, which will bring more business opportunities for Hong Kong’s economy.
      
     Before I close, I would like to welcome and encourage more Italian entrepreneurs and investors to come to Hong Kong and explore collaboration with our local counterparts. I believe Hong Kong’s growing and robust ecosystem will offer a conducive environment for starting or scaling up businesses in the area of innovation and technology.
      
     Last but not least, my best wishes to the five shortlisted Italian start-ups for their upcoming presentations of promising business ideas. Please enjoy the rest of the STARTIT.Asia programme. 
      
     Thank you. read more