Tag Archives: China

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, will pay a duty visit to Beijing from December 17 to 20 to brief state leaders on the latest economic, social and political situations in Hong Kong. The Director of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Carol Yip, and the Private Secretary to the Chief Executive, Mr Kevin Choi, will join the visit.
           
     During Mr Lee’s absence, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, will be the Acting Chief Executive. read more

     The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) launched the 2023/24 recruitment exercise for appointment as Analyst/Programmer II today (December 15). The deadline for submitting applications is 6pm on January 5, 2024 (Hong Kong time). The recruitment is open to all permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region who meet the relevant entry requirements.

     Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in information technology or equivalent and graduating in the year of 2024 or 2025 may also apply. If selected, appointment will be subject to, among others, the attainment of requisite academic qualification in the year of 2024 or 2025. Details of the entry requirements and recruitment exercise for appointment as Analyst/Programmer II are available for access on the website of Civil Service Bureau (CSB) at www.csb.gov.hk/english/recruit/7.html.

     Applicants may make online applications directly or download the application form (G.F. 340 (Rev. 7/2023)) through the CSB’s website. The form is also available at the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of the Home Affairs Department or the Job Centres of the Employment Services Division of the Labour Department. Applicants must submit the supporting documents of qualification on or before 6pm on January 12, 2024 (Hong Kong time).

     For enquiry, please send it to the Appointments Section of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer at 12/F, Treasury Building, No. 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, or call 3847 7387, or e-mail to appts@ogcio.gov.hk.
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     The Chief Executive, in conjunction with the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Committee), has exercised the power given under Article 43 of the National Security Law to make the 2023 Implementation Rules for Amending the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Amendment Rules). The Amendment Rules were gazetted today (December 15) and took effect on the same day.

     Under Schedule 3 to the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Implementation Rules), the Secretary for Security may issue a freezing notice to freeze offence related property. The freezing notices serve the following purposes:

1. to preserve the property in question so that a confiscation or forfeiture order may be obtained (and enforced) in the future;
2. to prevent the use of the property in question in financing or assisting any offence endangering national security; and
3. to prevent any dealing with the property in a manner which may prejudice on-going investigation or proceedings concerning an offence endangering national security.

     The validity period of a freezing notice must not exceed two years, and the Court may only grant an extension if the investigation of the offence endangering national security could not reasonably have been completed before the expiry of the validity period of the freezing notice. The Implementation Rules have not clearly specified whether the validity period of a freezing notice can be extended before conclusion of the related proceedings (especially proceedings of criminal prosecutions).

     The Implementation Rules, as amended, have put it beyond doubt that a freezing notice issued under Schedule 3 is valid while the proceedings to which it relates are pending and remains so until the conclusion of the proceedings. The amendments reflect the aforementioned purposes of the freezing notice regime, and can more effectively avoid the national security risks arising from improper dealing with offence related property by the defendants of cases concerning offences endangering national security before conclusion of the proceedings. The detailed provisions of the Amendment Rules can be accessed via this website.

     “The amendments are technical in nature and the scope of the proposed amendments is extremely narrow: it only aims at making clear provisions in respect of the validity period of freezing notice, without changing the basis or principle for issuing such notice. If the related proceedings are not yet concluded, it is only natural that the notices should remain valid in the meantime. Hence, the amendments are a matter of necessity, with a view to enabling the HKSAR Government to continue to effectively prevent and suppress acts and activities endangering national security,” the Government spokesman said.

     The Government spokesman also pointed out that “after the amendment, the property right of the suspects and defendants of cases concerning offences endangering national security remains protected in accordance with the law. Same as the prevailing arrangement, persons affected by the freezing notices may apply to the Court of First Instance for the revocation of the notices or for the grant of a licence or variation of a licence for dealing with the property under the Implementation Rules. The licence regime already provides a balance between the prevention and suppression of acts or activities endangering national security and the protection of property right.”

     Article 43 of the National Security Law stipulates the various measures that law enforcement authorities of the HKSAR may take in handling cases concerning offence endangering national security. The Chief Executive is authorised, in conjunction with the Committee, to make relevant implementation rules for the purpose of applying the measures under Article 43. The Implementation Rules first made by the Chief Executive in conjunction with the Committee took effect on July 7 2020. read more

     Police will implement special traffic arrangements in Causeway Bay and Tin Hau to facilitate the holding of the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo in Victoria Park from December 16, 2023 to January 8, 2024. A.  &nb… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Communications Authority:
 
     The Communications Authority (CA) published in the Gazette today (December 15) the revised Television and Radio Codes of Practice on Programme and Advertising Standards (CoPs). The revisions including relaxation of relevant regulatory requirements and the introduction of specific requirements for the implementation of and giving effect to the National Security Law (NSL), took immediate effect upon gazettal.
 
     “The CA has been sparing no efforts in facilitating the sustainable development of the broadcasting industry and it recognises the challenging business environment faced by licensees in light of the competition from online media. On the whole, the latest revisions have timely provided relevant relaxation to the regulatory regime of the broadcasting industry under the CoPs in light of the development of the society and the market. The revised CoPs provide a more flexible and conducive operating environment for the broadcasting industry and have struck an appropriate balance between facilitating the operation of the licensees and protecting the interests of the community at large, enabling the traditional broadcasting sector to develop in a sustainable way so as to provide the public with quality broadcasting services. The relaxations also help licensees strengthen their financial position by creating new revenue-generating channels, thereby achieving sustainable development,” a spokesman for the CA said. A summary of the revisions to the CoPs is at Appendix. 
 
     Meanwhile, in order to clearly spell out the important responsibility of the broadcasting industry in safeguarding national security, the CA has stipulated in the CoPs specific requirements for broadcasting licensees to safeguard national security in broadcasting their programmes.
 
     The spokesman stressed that licensees have the duty and obligation all along to safeguard national security and ensure that their programming contents comply with the relevant requirements. The CA included the specific requirements in the CoPs aims to provide licensees with a better understanding of the requirements of the NSL, thereby ensuring that they would abide by the law in their provision of broadcasting services.
 
     Apart from the above-mentioned revisions, the CA has in recent years implemented a number of facilitating measures to encourage the development of the traditional broadcasting sector, including:
 
*relaxing in July 2018 the regulation of indirect advertising, thereby allowing licensees to broadcast product placements in programmes. This enabled licensees to broaden their sources of advertising income;
 
*lifting in January and March 2020 respectively the requirements for free TV licensees to broadcast educational television programmes and the programmes of Radio Television Hong Kong;
 
*relaxing in September 2020 the regulations of real property advertisements, sponsorship of live and related sports events programmes, and broadcast hours of mature programmes;
 
*revising in February 2021 the relevant guidelines to give effect to the relaxation measures introduced by the Government through amendments to the Broadcasting Ordinance and Telecommunications Ordinance, viz. relaxation of the “cross-media ownership restrictions” and “foreign control restrictions”, as well as removal of the “requirement of a licensee being a non-subsidiary company”, thereby providing greater flexibility to licensees’ business operations; and
 
*implementing the decisions of the Chief Executive in Council in February 2023 in the mid-term review of the free TV and sound broadcasting licences which refined the programme requirements (e.g. relaxing the restriction of broadcasting non-English content on English channels, reducing the required broadcast hours of children’s programmes, consolidating the categories of positive programme, etc.), thereby reducing the compliance costs for the licensees.
 
     The CA will continue to monitor and keep pace with market changes and introduce timely facilitating measures whenever appropriate to foster the development of the broadcasting industry.
 
     The CA embarked on the review of the CoPs upon completion of the mid-term review of the free TV and sound broadcasting licences in February 2023, and conducted a public consultation exercise from July 17 to August 16, 2023. The proposed revisions to the CoPs have received majority support from the public and the broadcasting licensees. A summary of the views received during the public consultation is available on the CA’s website. read more