Tag Archives: China

     Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Li and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):

Question:

     The Planning Department updated the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines in 2020 to, in respect of community facilities, incorporate a population-based planning ratio for child care centres (including the provision of 100 aided service places per 25 000 persons), as well as update the floor areas of child care centres. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of communities in the 18 districts across the territory whose child care centres have met or are striving to meet the aforesaid standards through various programmes so far, and set out the details of the relevant programmes by community;

(2) under the aforesaid planning ratio, whether the Government has estimated the additional manpower required for the provision of child care services and whether recruitment difficulties will arise, and whether it has assessed how such planning ratio will alleviate the waiting situation of such services; and

(3) whether it will consider conducting supply and demand surveys in respect of child care services in each district on a regular basis, so as to provide timely support to families in districts where such services are inadequate through service integration?
 
Reply:

President:

     The reply to the Member’s question is as follows:

(1) The Government incorporated the population-based planning ratio for aided child care centres (CCCs) (i.e. 100 aided CCC service places for children aged below three for every 25 000 persons) into the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines in March 2020, with an aim to reserve suitable premises for operating CCCs in different development projects. The standard of this planning ratio mainly applies to new housing development areas. The Government will set up aided standalone CCCs in phases according to the aforementioned planning standard.

     For developed areas, apart from referring to the above planning standard, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) will consider the child care service provision in the districts and individual district characteristics such as CCC places, service utilisation, land supply situation, demand for services arising from changes in demographic structure, etc, in planning aided CCCs.

(2) The Government will continue to reserve suitable premises for operating CCCs in different development projects, in accordance with the population-based planning ratio for the provision of aided CCCs, and to require service operators to hire sufficient qualified child care workers (CCWs) to provide services in accordance with the Child Care Services Ordinance (Cap. 243) and Child Care Services Regulations (Cap. 243A). In 2022-23, there are around 1 600 newly registered CCWs. It is estimated that the number of new registrations in the coming year will be similar and should be able to cope with the additional manpower required for the CCCs that are newly set up in the next two years. The SWD will continue to keep in view the demand and supply of manpower situation of registered CCWs and encourage various institutions/organisations to run relevant programmes or to increase the capacity in accordance with the service demand, in order to meet the service needs. There is no central waiting arrangement for CCC service. Parents can directly apply for the service from CCC service operators according to their needs, and the applications are handled by respective operators.

(3) The Government commissioned the University of Hong Kong to conduct the Consultancy Study on the Long-term Development of Child Care Services (the Study), which took stock of the existing day child care services, made reference to the experiences of other places, gathered the opinions of stakeholders, conducted in-depth analyses on different aspects of child care services, such as objectives, contents, targets, financing modes, service models, demand and supply situation, facility planning, manpower planning and training, and made recommendations on the long-term development of the services. With reference to the main recommendations of the Report of the Study, the Government has implemented a series of new measures in strengthening child care services since 2019-20, including the continuous increase of service places of aided standalone CCCs; the enhancement of Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project in 2020, and the re-engineering of Mutual Help Child Care Centres in phases to provide after school care service for pre-primary children between 2021 and 2024, in order to strengthen the long-term development of child care services. The Government will continuously monitor the operation of various day child care services, understand the demand for such services from members of local communities through District Social Welfare Offices of the SWD, in order to ensure such services can meet the needs in different districts. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Edmund Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):
 
Question:
 
     Regarding electric vehicles (EVs), will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) given that the Government launched the “One-for-One Replacement” Scheme (the Scheme) in 2018, under which car owners who scrap their old private car (PC) and then purchase a new electric PC (e-‍PC) can enjoy a higher first registration tax (FRT) concession, of the total amount of FRT concessions granted to EV owners under the Scheme each year since its launch;
 
(2) as it has been reported that due to the huge amount of tax concessions under the Scheme, quite a number of people have purchased quotas of eligible old PCs (i.e. PCs with internal combustion engines or e-‍PCs) in order to obtain tax concessions under the Scheme, of the number of newly purchased EVs whose registered vehicle owners changed within one month of registration since the implementation of the Scheme;
 
(3) whether the Government knows the situation mentioned in (2), and whether measures are in place to plug the loophole concerned; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(4) given that the Government has provided free EV charging facilities in many of its public car parks, of the expenditure on electricity tariffs incurred by the Government in each of the past three years;
 
(5) as the Government has earlier indicated that tests on the imposition of EV charging fees are expected to be first conducted at Kwai Fong Car Park in the first half of this year, but it is learnt that these tests have not yet commenced, of the reasons for that; the earliest time for the introduction of EV charging fees as planned by the Government, as well as the level of such fees; and
 
(6) as it is learnt that with more and more members of the public purchasing EVs, the EV charging facilities in public car parks under the Government are insufficient to meet the demand, whether the Government has plans to further increase such facilities in its public car parks; if so, of the details?
 
Reply:
 
President,

     At present, transport makes up around 20 per cent of total carbon emissions in Hong Kong. To work towards the goal of achieving carbon neutrality before 2050 in Hong Kong, development of green transport is paramount. The Government has been striving to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce the emission of air pollutants. The Government has implemented various measures in recent years to encourage citizens switching to EVs while avoiding vehicular growth. An example is the provision of first registration tax (FRT) concession arrangement for EVs, which includes the “One-for-One Replacement” Scheme.
 
     Hong Kong has made notable progress in promoting the popularisation of EVs in recent years. The percentage of electric private cars (e-PCs) among all newly registered private cars (PCs) has soared from 6.3 per cent in 2019 to 64.3 per cent in the first eight months of this year.
 
     In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the reply to the question raised by the Hon Edmund Wong is as follows:
 
(1) The amount of FRT concessions granted to e-PC owners in each year since the launch of the “One-for-One Replacement” Scheme on February 28, 2018 is tabulated below:
 

Year	Amount of FRT concessions granted ($ million)
2018	65
2019	452
2020	955
2021	2,381
2022	5,295
2023 (January to August)	4,850
Total	13,998

(2) and (3) According to the record of the Transport Department (TD), as at October 10, 2023, the number of e-PCs purchased through the “One-for-One Replacement” Scheme over the past five years with ownership transferred within one month after first registration is 30 752.
 
     The objective of the scheme is to provide existing vehicle owners with incentive to opt for EVs when they replace their cars on the premise of not increasing the total number of PCs, in order to improve roadside air quality. The TD ensures that an applicant for the scheme meets all eligibility criteria, including that the vehicle owner must have been the registered owner of the “old PC” (PC with an internal combustion engine or e-PC) for 18 months or more without interruption, and the registered owner of the old PC must be identical to the first registered vehicle owner of the “replacement e-PC” (a new e-PC).
 
     The TD handles matter in relation to transfer of vehicle ownership in accordance with the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374E). New vehicle owner must submit to the TD a notice of transfer of ownership, completed and duly signed by the existing owner and the new owner, together with relevant documents such as the registration document relating to the vehicle, in order to complete the transfer of vehicle ownership procedures. If the TD suspects someone to have committed illegal acts such as forgery and using a false instrument, they will refer these cases to the Police for investigation and follow up.
 
     The Government has been paying attention to the trading of e-PCs in the second-hand market, and is aware of the transfer of ownership not long after the registration of newly purchased EVs. We will review the situation and make adjustments as needed.
 
(4) and (5) The government expenditures on electricity incurred by provision of free charging services for EVs in the past three years are tabulated as follows:
 

Year	Electricity expenditure (thousand dollars)
2021	3,200
2022	8,900
2023 (January to August)	14,000

     The Government announced the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles (the EV Roadmap) in March 2021. The EV Roadmap specified that the Government would begin to impose charging fees in government car parks from 2025 to marketise EV charging services, so as to promote their sustainable development in the long run. To expedite the initiative, the Government will advance the marketisation of EV charging services provided in government car parks progressively, starting before end-2023.
 
     The Government has completed the installation of self-service payment kiosks for EV chargers and related tests at Kwai Fong Car Park and Kennedy Town Car Park, and is preparing for a tender exercise to engage operators to progressively take over the operation of public EV charging facilities in government car parks, and impose charging fees. The related fee levels will be set by the operators, with reference to the fee of charging services offered in the same district, upon the Government’s approval.
 
(6) Charging at home or usual parking spaces are sufficient to meet general daily operational needs of e-PCs. Therefore, the EV Roadmap set out that owners should mainly charge their e-PCs at home, work place or places they travel to or park at regularly, while public charging facilities mainly provide ad hoc top-up charging services for e-PCs in need while driving.
 
     To expand the EV charging network in private buildings, the Government, through the measure of gross floor area concessions, encourages the installation of EV charging-enabling infrastructure (EVCEI) in parking spaces of newly built private buildings. As at September 2023, the Government has approved over 78 000 relevant parking spaces, of which about 30 800 parking spaces have been completed and equipped with EVCEI. As for existing private buildings, the Government has launched the $3.5 billion EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme to assist owners in installation of EVCEI. We anticipate that the entire subsidy scheme will support some 140 000 parking spaces in around 700 car parks of existing private residential estates to install EVCEI by the scheme’s completion in 2027-28.
 
     As for enhancing charging facilities in parking spaces in government buildings, the Chief Executive’s 2022 Policy Address sets out the target of providing 7 000 additional parking spaces with EV charging facilities in government buildings in the following three years. Government buildings under construction or planning will provide EV chargers so long as the provision is technically feasible and will not affect the progress of the works. As at the end of June 2023, over 6 100 public chargers were provided by the Government and private organisations, achieving ahead of schedule the EV Roadmap target of having at least 5 000 public chargers by 2025. In addition, the Government endorsed in July this year the refinements to the land lease conditions for petrol filling stations (PFSs). The aim is to incentivise PFS operators to install EV charging facilities in available space within the about 180 existing PFSs in Hong Kong. Preparatory work for tenders is also underway for conversion of two PFS sites into quick charging stations. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Martin Liao and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):
 
Question:
 
     On July 4 this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency released its final report on Japan’s nuclear wastewater discharge plan (the discharge plan). In its response to the report on the same day, the Government indicated that it was reviewing the content of the report and would make further risk assessment regarding the discharge plan. On the other hand, in the light of the discharge plan, the Hong Kong Observatory, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Centre for Food Safety regularly publish on their websites the test results of radiological levels on seawater in Hong Kong waters, fishery products and food imported from Japan respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether the Government’s risk assessment has made comprehensive consideration from a scientific perspective, including the impact of the discharge plan on public health and safety, as well as environmental conservation; if so, of the details, and whether it will collaborate with the Mainland Government and experts to jointly assess the risks of the discharge plan;

(2) given that the discharge plan will last for 30 years, arousing concern among some members of the public about the cumulative risk posed by the discharged nuclear wastewater, whether the Government will draw up a response plan in the event of abnormal results detected in the radiation monitoring of seawater samples collected in local waters in the future; if so, of the details; and

(3) in addition to the regular publication of monitoring results by the aforesaid government departments, of the measures put in place by the Government to step up public education, so as to avoid undue worries in society?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Japanese Government insisted on commencing, from August 24, 2023, the discharge of the nuclear-contaminated water which had been in contact with the nuclear fuel inside the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station (FNPS). The decision of conducting such an unprecedented and large scale discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, which would last for 30 years, has blatantly ignored the inevitable risk on food safety and the irreversible contamination and damages to the marine environment. It is an irresponsible act which shifts the issue from oneself to another. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government strongly opposes such move.
 
     The reply to various parts of the question raised by the Hon Martin Liao is as follows:
 
(1) The HKSAR Government’s inter-departmental taskforce has reviewed the final report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and relevant information provided by the Japanese authorities from a scientific perspective. Having considered the final report of the IAEA, information provided by the Japanese authorities, opinions of the experts in the Mainland and risk assessments, the HKSAR Government has come to the view that there is currently no guarantee from the Japanese authorities that their purification and dilution system can operate continuously and effectively in the long term after the commencement of the discharge plan, and that the plan will not pose any potential risks to food safety and marine ecology.
 
     In more specific terms, the nuclear-contaminated water in the FNPS had direct contact with active nuclear fuel and thus contains a high concentration of radioactive substances, involving at least 30 radionuclides. The total discharge volume is over 1.3 million cubic metres. During such a long period of over 30 years, purification would primarily be relied on for reducing radioactive substances in the nuclear-contaminated water. If the relevant system fails to operate effectively, food safety and marine ecology would be at significant risk.
 
     Safeguarding food safety and public health in Hong Kong is the responsibility of the HKSAR Government. In view of the potential serious risk, the HKSAR Government must take corresponding precautionary measures to safeguard food safety and ensure citizens’ health. The Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order (FSO) on August 23, 2023 to prohibit the import of aquatic products originating from 10 Japanese metropolis/prefectures with higher risks. For other aquatic products from Japan that are not prohibited from being imported, the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department performs its gatekeeping role at the import level by conducting comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in Hong Kong. Tests on relevant processed food are also enhanced.
 
     The HKSAR Government will observe for some time after the commencement of the discharge to obtain more monitoring and scientific data in order to further examine the impact of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan on food safety, and keep under review relevant counter measures. Should anomalies be detected, the HKSAR Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban. The HKSAR Government will continue to maintain close communication with the Japanese authorities, closely monitor the latest situation regarding the import of food from Japan and the discharge plan of the FNPS, and perform risk assessments to safeguard food safety and citizens’ health in Hong Kong.
 
(2) In response to Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated water, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has enhanced its radiation monitoring of seawater samples collected in local waters. So far no anomaly has been detected. Should any anomaly be detected, the HKO will analyse its cause and assess its impact, and then notify relevant departments for follow-up action, including stepping up the radiation monitoring of seawater, local catch and imported food, expanding the scope of FSO’s applicability and disseminating information on food safety and public health to members of the public. 
 
(3) With a view to enabling members of the public to have a better grasp of the latest safety information on imported Japanese food products, the Environment and Ecology Bureau (EEB) has been making public announcements every working day regarding the radiological testing results of imported Japanese food samples, the radiological levels of samples of local catch, and the radiation measurement results of seawater samples in Hong Kong waters since the commencement of the discharge. The HKO and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will also announce the relevant testing results on their websites. At the same time, the Government will closely monitor the latest developments, explain the matter to the public via different social media platforms, and make clarifications on possible public misconceptions on the nuclear-contaminated water discharge. In addition, the EEB has liaised with the Education Bureau to arrange for the distribution of materials to primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong to explain Japan’s nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan, thereby helping students to have a more comprehensive, accurate and in-depth understanding of the issue.
 
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     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Han-pan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):   Question:     &nbs… read more

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon David Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):
      
Question:
      
     In reply to my question on November 2 last year, the Government indicated that according to the findings of a scientific study on environmental waters, the environmental pollution caused by residual medicines (including antibiotics) was insignificant. However, it has been reported that a study conducted by the Hong Kong Baptist University in 2018 uncovered that leachates collected from the West New Territories Landfill as well as the closed Pillar Point Valley Landfill and Shuen Wan Landfill had been tested and found to contain human antibiotics, and their quantities in some leachates even reached a level that might result in the development of antibiotics-resistant microorganisms, posing public health risks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      
(1) whether it has studied the types of antibiotics disposed of at landfills in the past year; if so, of the respective types and quantities of the antibiotics concerned;
      
(2) of the time and details of the Government’s latest assessment of (i) the impact of the disposal of medicines at landfills on the environment and (ii) the impact of the disposal of human antibiotics on antibiotics resistance; whether it can provide the report of the aforesaid scientific study; and
      
(3) whether it will consider afresh establishing a centralised recovery system for medicine from households/residential care homes to mitigate the threat of human antibiotics to the environment and the ecology; if so, of the details?
      
Reply:
      
President,
      
     The consolidated reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Lam is set out below:
      
     In Hong Kong, antibiotics is a type of prescribed medicines and should be used under close supervision by healthcare professionals.  The public must obtain a doctor’s prescription for dispensary of antibiotics at pharmacies. In general, doctors/medical practitioners only prescribe antibiotics to patients when necessary after clinical diagnoses, and should provide instructions to patients on the proper use of antibiotics, including the dosage of antibiotics, and the need to take all the dispensed antibiotics to complete the entire course of treatment.
      
     According to the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354) (the Ordinance), expired or ineffective antibiotics generated by pharmaceutical suppliers or medical institutions are classified as chemical waste. Their storage, collection, delivery and disposal must comply with the stringent requirements of the Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation (Cap. 354C). According to the Ordinance, the relevant organisations are required to engage licensed chemical waste collectors to collect and deliver the chemical wastes to the licensed chemical waste disposal facilities for incineration or proper disposal. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) also issues letters to remind hospitals, clinics and other organisations to properly dispose of waste medicine generated (including antibiotics and other medicines that are expired, ineffective or returned from patients) in accordance with the legislative requirements.
      
     On the other hand, the landfills in operation in Hong Kong were designed and constructed as fully contained facilities with a multi-layer composite impermeable liner system covering the entire base area of the landfills. Waste undergoes anaerobic digestion in the landfill and the leachate arising from decomposition will be fully collected and treated at the leachate treatment facility set up at the landfill, including the use of sequential batch reactors for aerobic digestion. The treated leachate will be discharged into public sewers in accordance with statutory standards. If the leachate contains antibiotics from waste medicine, the majority of which will be decomposed through the anaerobic and aerobic digestion processes mentioned above.
      
     According to the research conducted by the Drainage Services Department, the sewage treatment works in Hong Kong can effectively remove some of the pharmaceutical residues in the sewage (including antibiotics), for which the removal rate of some antibiotics in secondary sewage treatment works can reach 90 per cent or above. These findings are on par with that of relevant overseas research. Therefore, the amount of the residual antibiotics that may be present in the effluent will have been greatly reduced after the aforementioned multiple biological decomposition processes.
      
     The EPD has commissioned a local university to conduct an antibiotics environmental baseline survey study from 2020 to 2021. The findings of the study showed that the median levels of 26 types of antibiotics commonly used in Hong Kong in the aquatic environment were lower than the “Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC)”, indicating that there was no material impact caused on our local aquatic environment. The link to the report of the aforementioned baseline survey study is as follows: www.epd.gov.hk/epd/sites/default/files/epd/english/environmentinhk/water/studyrpts/files/Antibiotic_report.pdf
      
     Regarding the suggestion to establish a centralised households / residential care homes medicine recovery system, since the community generally does not discard a large quantity of antibiotics medicine, and the antibiotics commonly used in Hong Kong have no material impact on our local aquatic environment, the EPD currently has no plan to set up any relevant recovery system. read more