Police today (March 12) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Tai Po.
 
     Ng Duan-man, aged 70, went missing after he left a caring centre on Kau Hui Chik Street on March 10 noon. The staff of caring centre made a report to Police yesterday (March 11).
 
     He is about 1.55 metres tall, 50 kilograms in weight and of thin build. He has a pointed face with yellow complexion and short grey hair. He was last seen wearing a yellow jacket, a blue and white striped T-shirt, grey trousers, grey slippers and carrying a dark blue umbrella.
 
     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing man or may have seen him is urged to contact the Regional Missing Persons Unit of New Territories North on 3661 3128 or email to rmpu-ntn-1@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.

    

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (March 12) strongly disapproved of and condemned The Times' extremely misleading report headlined "Hongkongers to be jailed for keeping old newspapers". The HKSAR Government considered it necessary to clarify to set the record straight.

     A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said, "Not only is the report extremely misleading, its headline is also completely wrong, which misleads people into believing that one can be imprisoned for possessing certain old newspapers, thereby generating panic among members of the public."

     As a matter of fact, according to the relevant provisions on offences in connection with seditious intention in the Safeguarding National Security Bill, a person commits an offence only when he or she possesses a publication that has a seditious intention without reasonable excuse. Whether a publication has a seditious intention will have to be determined after all relevant circumstances are taken into consideration, including the context and purpose of the publication. Relevant provisions of the Bill also stipulate circumstances that do not constitute a seditious intention. As regards the offence of possessing a publication with a seditious intention, the prosecution has to prove that the defendant possesses the publication concerned without reasonable excuse before the defendant may be convicted by the court. It is not possible for a person who does not know that the publication concerned has a seditious intention to be convicted.

     The spokesman continued, "Representatives of the HKSAR Government have given multiple examples to illustrate what is meant by 'reasonable excuse' at the Legislative Council Bills Committee meeting. The provisions on the proposed offence are clear. Members of the public will not unwittingly violate the law. It is incumbent upon The Times to ensure that reports concerning the Basic Law Article 23 legislation of the HKSAR are fair and just, and stop making scaremongering remarks."

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (March 12) the launch of the stablecoin issuer sandbox arrangement.

     Tying in with the consultation on the legislative proposal for implementing the regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers, the HKMA wishes to leverage the sandbox arrangement to communicate supervisory expectations to parties interested in issuing fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong, as well as to obtain feedback from participants on the proposed regulatory requirements.

     Applicants should have genuine interest in developing a stablecoin issuance business in Hong Kong with a reasonable business plan, and their proposed operations under the sandbox arrangement will be conducted within a limited scope and in a risk-controllable manner. Interested parties should refer to the details of the sandbox arrangement in Annex.

     The list of the participants of the sandbox arrangement will be available on the HKMA website and updated in a timely manner.

     The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue, said, "The sandbox arrangement serves as an effective channel for the HKMA and the industry to exchange views on the proposed regulatory regime, and will facilitate the formulation of fit-for-purpose and risk-based regulatory requirements, which is key to promoting the sustainable and responsible development of the stablecoin issuance business."

     Hong Kong Customs seized about 87 kilograms of suspected cannabis buds with an estimated market value of about $18 million at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on March 10. Two men were arrested. This is the largest passenger cannabis trafficking case detected by Customs at HKIA in the past decade.

     The case involved two male passengers aged 67 and 48. They arrived in Hong Kong from Vancouver, Canada, via Tokyo, Japan, on that day. During customs clearance, Customs officers found the batch of suspected cannabis buds concealed in their respective checked-in luggage. Both passengers were subsequently arrested.

     The two arrested persons have been jointly charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. They will appear at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (March 13).

     Following the increasing number of visitors to Hong Kong, Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

     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.

     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 Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (March 12) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Essex County of the State of Massachusetts in the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the area with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 37 770 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 83.84 million poultry eggs from the US last year.

     "The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreak. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.