Tag Archives: China

     Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the cocktail reception of Constitution Day of Norway today (May 17):
 
Ambassador Brudeset (Norwegian Ambassador to China, Ms Signe Brudeset), Director General Wei (Director General of the Consular Department of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Wei Wenxiu), Honorary Consul Chao (Norwegian Honorary Consul in Hong Kong, Ms Sabrina Chao), ladies and gentlemen,
 
     Good evening.

     I’m delighted to be here, with you, in celebration of Norway’s Constitution Day. Delighted, too, that Norway’s Ambassador to China and Mongolia, Ms Brudeset, could join us, here in Hong Kong, for this evening’s reception.
      
     Constitution Day may sound like a rather formal occasion. But having done some reading, and entertaining viewing, I can tell you it looks like one of the world’s happiest national days. A day when children are celebrated as much as the constitution. A day full of youth parades and all the ice cream children – and, no doubt, their parents – can eat.
      
     There’s plenty of hot dogs and cake on offer, too. Sounds like my kind of holiday.
      
     It’s been six years since we celebrated Norway’s national day together here in Hong Kong. As we move into the post-pandemic economy, I’m hopeful that our two economies, our two communities, can build on our good ties and goodwill.
     After all the challenging times, I can confidently say that Hong Kong now shines brighter than ever.
      
     Our formula of success, the “one country, two systems” principle, will be here to stay in the long run. It is a solemn commitment of our country, China.The unique advantages that have made Hong Kong what it is today will continue to be the core character of this city.
      
     Hong Kong continues to stand as the trusted gateway to connect the Chinese Mainland and the world; a platform which international businesses can leverage for convenient access to the Mainland and Asian markets.
      
     Apart from being Asian’s international financial centre, we are also driving our innovation and technology development through targeted policies.Our efforts include attracting strategic enterprises worldwide to establish a presence here, and expediting collaboration with sister cities in the Greater Bay Area, particularly Shenzhen.
      
     I trust Hong Kong can create business opportunities for Norwegian companies – and a flourishing future for us all.
      
     On this, I would like to highlight one specific area, which I believe our co-operation is with promising prospect.
      
     Our country has given us the “eight centres” role in the National 14th Five-year Plan, and that includes building Hong Kong as an international maritime centre. In that regard, we released an Action Plan on Maritime and Port Development Strategy last December. And strengthening high-value-added maritime services, enlarging the maritime network, and grooming talent are among our priority tasks.
      
     Hong Kong is now home to over 1 100 port and maritime-related companies. They provide a wide range of high-value-added maritime services.In the field of marine insurance, for instance, 11 out of the 12 members of the International Group of Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs have established a presence in Hong Kong. Among them are the Norwegian-based Gard and Skuld P&I Clubs, which have been operating in Hong Kong for decades. Norway’s DNV (Det Norske Veritas), the world’s largest classification society for vessels in terms of gross tonnage, has also maintained a longstanding presence in the city.
      
     Norway is certainly a superpower on the seas, and owns one of the world’s largest merchant fleets.You have one of the world’s most comprehensive maritime industry clusters. For maritime services, there are many areas where we can collaborate.
      
     One such area is the decarbonisation of vessels and the entire maritime value chain, as we collectively strive to achieve net zero targets. We can also foster partnerships on maritime talent development and manpower training. For instance, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is well recognised in this area.It has established a joint degree programme with the Copenhagen Business School.
      
     And, let me add, our co-operation could extend well into the cultural sphere.
      
     I understand that the Norwegian city of Bodo, just north of the Arctic Circle, is one of this year’s three European Capitals of Culture. Bodo’s theme is “Arcticulation,” with more than 1 000 events being held there and throughout the surrounding region of Nordland.
      
     Perhaps a mini-Arcticulation festival would find an enthusiastic audience in Hong Kong.
      
     Or, collaboration between our West Kowloon Cultural District and Oslo’s Munch Museum, which is home to the world famous painting of
      
     In short, from trade to business, from the economy to culture, and others, the room for co-operation is vast.
      
     Ambassador, ladies and gentlemen, my congratulations to your Constitution Day, and our best wishes to the enduring good relationship between Hong Kong and Norway.

    

     Hong Kong Customs conducted an anti-narcotics operation codenamed “Sniper II” between January 1 and May 16 to combat syndicates smuggling drugs by using consolidated consignments.  

     In view of the upward trend of drug syndicates making use of consolidated consignments to smuggle drugs into Hong Kong, Customs, through risk assessment, have conducted strike and search operations at local consolidator companies to examine suspicious parcels. During the operation, Customs detected 14 cases and seized about 20 kilograms of suspected dangerous drugs, including about 8.5kg of suspected ketamine, about 5.2kg of suspected cannabis-type dangerous drugs, about 4kg of suspected methamphetamine and about 2kg of suspected cocaine. The total estimated market value of the seizures was about $9.1 million. 

     In one of the cases, Customs officers arrested a 59-year-old man in Lai Chi Kok while he collected a parcel in which about 2kg of suspected ketamine was concealed. He was released on bail pending further investigation. 

     In another case, Customs yesterday (May 16) conducted a controlled delivery operation in Kwai Chung and seized about 3.5kg of suspected ketamine from a parcel received by a 47-year-old foreign man. The man, who was suspected of trafficking in a dangerous drug, was immediately arrested. Later, Customs officers searched the man’s residence and found a batch of drug packaging paraphernalia which was believed to be used for repackaging and redistributing drugs therein. An investigation is ongoing and the likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.  

     The parcels seized in this operation mainly originated from European and American regions, and were delivered to Hong Kong through consolidated consignments. Drug syndicates tend to make use of daily products including skincare products, cosmetic products and shampoo bottles to disguise or conceal the drugs inside the interlinings of packing materials or mix-load them with snacks in order to evade Customs inspection and increase the difficulty of Customs detection.

     Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people, nor to release their personal data or home address to others for receiving parcels or goods.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Young people should especially pay attention to the fact that drug trafficking is a serious criminal offence. A criminal conviction will result in grave repercussions for their future and they should not take risks in the hope that they may not be caught.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

          

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      The Hospital Authority (HA) today (May 17) announced the results of the HA Outstanding Staff and Teams Award and Young Achievers Award for 2024. This year, ni… read more

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, had separate meetings with delegations led by Deputy Director General of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission Professor Hu Hongyi and Vice Director General of the Shanghai Hospital Development Center Mr Zheng Ning today (May 17) to explore areas for strengthening healthcare co-operation.

     Professor Lo said, “Hong Kong and Shanghai embrace seamless co-operation in the realm of healthcare. The two places have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Healthcare Cooperation between the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and the Health Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government last month at the 6th Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Conference to establish co-operation mechanisms in four key areas of collaboration, namely traditional Chinese medicine, high-quality development of public hospitals, community health and prevention and control of infectious diseases, as well as health emergency responses.
 
     “For the very first time, the Chief Executive adopted cross-boundary medical collaboration as one of the subtitles in the 2023 Policy Address, demonstrating how deep the HKSAR Government values medical collaboration with the Mainland, Shanghai included, on various fronts. The HKSAR Government has indeed been strengthening co-operation on healthcare service developments and enhancing healthcare quality with various Mainland counterparts under the principles of complementarity and mutual benefits and on the premise of benefitting the healthcare development of the Mainland and Hong Kong. Looking ahead, the two places will continue to strive to foster cross-boundary healthcare collaboration and draw concerted efforts to push forward the important national strategy of ‘Healthy China’.”
 
     The delegations of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and the Shanghai Hospital Development Center also attended the Hospital Authority (HA) Convention during their visit to Hong Kong.
 
     The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, and the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko, also joined some of the meetings today.

        

     A man who went missing in Hung Hom has been located.      Lei Kai-yin, aged 27, went missing after he was last seen at a care centre on San Lau Street on April 3 afternoon. Staff of the care cen… read more