Transcript of remarks by S for S at media session

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, at a media session after attending the Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting today (June 19):

Reporter: You made an apology this morning, but why haven't you bowed now?
 
Secretary for Security: I think I have expressed my apology. And I expressed my apology because as the Chief Executive said, it is because of the inadequacy of our work. So I have expressed my apology already and I hope that we will be working hard so that in future, in pushing or making proposals for the policies that the Government wants to make, there will be a good consultation and there will be a good communication so that views and opinions are taken into (account) for the benefit of the whole of Hong Kong.

Reporter: Secretary, in anticipation of this Friday of the ultimatum set by some netizens, would you promise them clearly that, in this term of Government before 2020, the Government would not carry out the extradition bill, i.e. the bill has been withdrawn in effect? And also another question is, to resolve the Taiwan case, would you consider the private member's bill being tabled by some lawmakers?   
   
Secretary for Security: The private member's bill has been proposed and the Government has been consulted on its way forward. This will do after a thorough discussion among our colleagues, but we will of course explain the Government's position on the proposed bill. What is your first question?  
 
Reporter: Would you withdraw the bill and promise that it will not be re-tabled in this term of Government, in effect?   

Secretary for Security: I think the Chief Executive has indicated that in the coming year we shall have a lot of things that we want to take action into for different areas – to improve livelihood, to create opportunities for development, to do more for the economy. So there will be a long list of things that the Government will take into consideration seriously for the progress of Hong Kong. We accept the reality if it does happen that in this LegCo term, if the bill will not have an opportunity to be considered again, then we will accept that fact.         
 
Reporter: What about this term of Government?  

Secretary for Security: I think the LegCo year expires, or the LegCo term expires differently from the Government's term. The LegCo term is a period of four years, whereas the Government period is five years.     
 
Reporter: How can people lodge complaints against the Special Tactical Unit if they do not have an ID number on their uniform? How can they do it? 
 
Secretary for Security: CAPO (Complaints Against Police Office) has been investigating complaints of different natures and CAPO will take into consideration all factors, including information available from the Police organisation as to who will be involved in what kind of job, at what time, at what hours. The CAPO system has been used in a lot of similar circumstances, so I will ask every one of you to give CAPO the opportunity to make investigation, so that they can look into all the circumstances of fact including information that they may gather from sources, such as the Internet and any person who may provide information to them. The investigation will be done thoroughly and impartially, and it will be submitted to the Independent Police Complaints Council for scrutiny.            

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