Tag Archives: China

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     â€‹The Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) today (June 8) held its Annual Donor Award Ceremony to commend outstanding regular blood donors. The BTS also announced that a total of 3 908 donors gave blood 25 times or in its multiples in 2023/24, which breaks the BTS record for two consecutive years. On behalf of all patients who have received blood transfusion treatment, the BTS would like to express its sincerest gratitude to all the enthusiastic blood donors.

     The officiating guests of award presentation included the Under Secretary for Health, Dr Libby Lee; the President of the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC), Mr George Joseph Ho; the Chairperson of the HKRC, Dr Lau Chor-chiu; the Chairman of the BTS Hospital Governing Committee, Mr Ignatius Chan; and the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority (HA), Dr Tony Ko, etc.

     Dr Lee said, “A steady supply of blood is getting more crucial when the demand for healthcare services is growing with an ageing population. I particularly welcomed the BTS’ strategy in enlisting the youth community as a new force for blood donation and urged blood donors to engage their family and friends in making it a habit to donate blood. The Government would continue to give full support to blood donation activities, including holding another blood donation event at the Central Government Offices next week with participation of government staff to appeal more businesses and organisations in organising blood donation activities.”

     Dr Ko stated that, “A sustainable and stable blood supply is of utmost importance to the healthcare system. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all blood donors across Hong Kong, whose donations have enabled patients to receive appropriate blood transfusion treatments. The HA has been strongly supportive of blood donation activities, and many healthcare professionals are outstanding blood donors who are dedicated to safeguarding patients’ wellbeing both at work and in their personal lives.”

     Dr Lau reiterated that the BTS has been continuously promoting the recruitment of young blood donors by visiting various universities and secondary schools to organise campus blood donation activities, with the aim of cultivating a habit of regular blood donation among the youth. He hopes to see more young faces at the blood donation award ceremony in the future.

     A total of 126 400 donors donated nearly 213 000 units of blood, turning into over 342 800 units of blood products for clinical treatment after they underwent processing and testing at the various laboratories of the BTS this year.

     In addition to individual donation awards, Elite Partnership Awards were presented to following corporate, community and academic partners, in recognition of their enthusiastic support and remarkable achievements for blood donation. The respective winners are:

Elite Partnership Award – Corporate Partners

• Prudential Hong Kong Limited
• Sino Group
• Nan Fung Group
• Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited

Elite Partnership Award – Community Partners

• Tsz Shan Monastery
• Lions Clubs International District 303
• Rotary International District 3450
• Scout Association of Hong Kong

Elite Partnership Award – Community Partners (Blood Donation Vehicle)

• Whampoa Garden Management Limited
• Langham Place
• Lung Mun Oasis
• Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation

Elite Partnership Award – University

• The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• The University of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Metropolitan University
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Hong Kong Baptist University

Elite Partnership Award – Secondary School

• West Island School
• Discovery College
• Po Leung Kuk Wu Chung College 
• The ISF Academy
• Sha Tin College
• Lingnan Secondary School
• TWGHs Yau Tze Tin Memorial College
• TWGHs Chang Ming Thien College 
• Lai Chack Middle School 
• CCC Fong Yun Wah Secondary School

     The BTS invites members of the public to keep donating blood and become a regular blood donor. Donors are advised to make appointments via “HK Blood” mobile app or by calling the BTS’ donor centres. For details, please visit www.ha.org.hk/rcbts. read more

     The Department of Justice (DoJ) today (June 8) held the National Security Legal Forum with the theme of “Looking Back and Ahead, New Dawn for Development”, inviting a number of senior government officials, internationally renowned legal experts and academics to share their insights on national security issues, such as the implementation and development of jurisprudence of the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL), as well as the “dual legislation and dual enforcement mechanism” institutional safeguard constituted along with the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO). Panel discussions among representatives from the financial and business sectors, and the interactive session between the Secretary for Justice and young people enabled members from different sectors to have a better understanding of national security, thereby dispelling misconceptions on the laws on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong and encouraging the public to be more proactive and conscious in safeguarding national security. The event attracted about 1000 guests and participants attending.

     Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Nong Rong; and Vice-Chairperson of the Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) and Deputy Director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPCSC, Mr Zhang Yong, were invited to deliver keynote speeches at the forum.

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee; the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Mr Zheng Yanxiong; the Head of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Mr Dong Jingwei; the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR, Mr Cui Jianchun; and the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, delivered their opening remarks at forum.

     Speaking at the forum, Mr Lee said that safeguarding national security is the Government’s responsibility, as well as the obligation of the whole community of Hong Kong. He pointed out that Hong Kong had finally completed the local legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law in March this year, marking an important milestone in Hong Kong’s new journey from stability to prosperity. The NSL and the SNSO will be compatible and complementary, giving full play to the institutional advantages of “dual legislation and dual enforcement mechanism”, ensuring that Hong Kong can focus on creating a more prosperous and better home without worries.

     Mr Lam said that it is of crucial importance to build and reinforce the confidence of all sectors in the laws on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong, which was enacted and implemented strictly in accordance with the rule of law principle, and will have positive interaction with Hong Kong’s future development. The DoJ will, in collaboration with relevant bureaux and departments, continue to promote and enhance education on the laws on safeguarding national security and other topics related to Hong Kong’s legal system and the rule of law through various means, so as to strengthen the trust of members of the public, and enhance their willingness to respect and obey the law as a matter of course.

     There were four panel sessions at the forum. In the first session, legal experts and academics reviewed the practical experience, development of jurisprudence and theoretical achievements of the NSL in light of previous case laws, with a view to demonstrating that the implementation of the NSL is fully compatible with the rule of law values, such as independent judicial power and fair trials, in which Hong Kong takes pride. The second session illustrated how the SNSO, following its implementation, works in tandem with the NSL in a compatible and complementary manner with mutual reinforcement in their enforcement and interpretation, fully leveraging on the strengths of the “dual legislation and dual enforcement mechanism”, so as to effectively respond to national security risks.

     In the third session, representatives from the financial and business sectors shared their views on how the HKSAR’s legal infrastructure for safeguarding national security creates a more stable environment for different sectors, and creates favourable conditions for high-quality development of the HKSAR. In the final session “Chat with SJ”, Mr Lam discussed with the audience and student representatives how national security is relevant to daily life, and the important role of youth in safeguarding national security.

     The Deputy Secretary for Justice, Mr Cheung Kwok-kwan, concluded the forum by thanking all guest speakers for sharing their insights and all the supporting organisations for their strong support. He pointed out that Hong Kong now has a comprehensive legal mechanism, in line with international standards, for safeguarding national security, fully protecting the legal rights and interests of investors and providing a more stable environment to help the HKSAR focus its efforts on developing a vibrant economy.

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Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:      Here is an item of interest to swimmers.      The Leisure and Cultural Services Department… read more

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, on civil service pay offers and the updated Civil Service Code at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (June 8):

Reporter: The overall updated Civil Service Code, like you mentioned, the more senior staff should be more cautious about like speaking out their opinions publicly. How would you define the senior level? Does that refer to specific titles, levels, authorities? Does that mean they should avoid attending any types of public campaign, like even those they are not directly opposing Government policies, for example, they attend a campaign that supports environmental awareness, even though the Government doesn’t have a strong stance against that. Could they do that? Secondly, about the three per cent salary adjustment for public servants, you’ve mentioned there isn’t much room for improvement or adjustment, but obviously the unions have expressed strong opposition against the increase level. So how concern about affecting the morale, like especially among the lower level civil servants?

Secretary for the Civil Service: I think for civil servants, it’s really a matter of gradation. The higher you move up, the more conscious of how even your private expressions, your private views would be interpreted by the public, whether your private views will be related to your official position. In these matters, it’s really a matter of gradation. It’s difficult to draw a solid line below which you can be very carefree about what you speak, above which you have to be really very cautious. As you move up, I think civil servants would have to really take care. And also civil servants working in different positions, working on different subject matters have to take care about what they said, in particular what their job is about. There are various factors to be considered.

     As to social activities, campaigns and so on, we have set out very clearly in the Code that civil servants can also have their political life. They can join social activities, except where we have strict rules about not being able to join. They can join. The principle is when they join social activities, they have to ensure that joining or participation in these social activities would not cause conflict of interest with their jobs and also their joining would not allow people or attract people to believe that they are representing the Government’s position or the activities they joined have Government backing or allow people to think that they are actually representing civil servants or a larger group of civil servants’ views. So they have to take care of all these when they participate in social activities.

     As to the three per cent increase, whether it will affect civil servants’ morale, I believe that civil servants will be able to understand that there are constraints on what the Government can do this year, especially given our very tight financial situation. And also I think as we progress with our various initiatives to improve livelihood and to improve the economy, there would be recognition of the public of what the civil servants have done. And this is also something that would be able to boost morale.

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

     Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) today (June 8) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Shanghai Municipal Talent Work Bureau in Hong Kong to deepen talent exchanges and co-operation between the two places.

     Member of the Standing Committee and Head of the Organization Department of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mr Zhang Wei; the Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Dr Wang Weiming; and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, jointly witnessed the signing of the MOU by Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Talent Work Bureau Mr Tan Puzhen and the Director of HKTE, Mr Anthony Lau. The MOU aimed to deepen talent exchanges and co-operation between Hong Kong and Shanghai by strengthening co-operation between the two places in global talent attraction, services, employment and development, with a view to jointly developing the two places into talent hubs.

     Mr Sun said, “Both places reached a consensus at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Conference held in Hong Kong in April 2024 on talent co-operation and agreed to establish a comprehensive partnership between departments of the two places as well as a regular dialogue mechanism to promote collaboration on nurturing talent and talent services. In addition, from May 6, the Mainland authorities extended the period of stay for holders of an exit endorsement for business visit travelling to Hong Kong from seven days to 14 days and expanded the application of the exit endorsement for talent to Beijing and Shanghai. Together with the MOU signed today, such measures will further deepen talent exchanges between Hong Kong and Shanghai and promote the ‘southbound and northbound’ two-way flow of talent, which will facilitate talent in both places to pursue career, business and investment opportunities.”

     At the exchange session this morning, both sides updated each other on the policy initiatives of attracting and supporting talent and exchanged views on areas for strengthened co-operation as well as collaboration with enterprises in Hong Kong and Shanghai to promote talent exchanges.

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