Article 23 taskforce to receive CE's award for civil servants
Source: China Daily Asia
HONG KONG - The Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance for civil servants this year will go to the taskforce on Article 23 of the Basic Law for its contribution to help complete the mission to enact the relevant law, the city's leader announced on Tuesday.
Addressing the media ahead of the Executive Council meeting, John Lee Ka-chiu described the "glorious" completion in March of enacting the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance under Article 23 of the Basic Law as "a historic mission overdue for 26 years, 8 months and 19 days".
The taskforce, comprising members from the Department of Justice, the Security Bureau and the Police Force, held about 30 consultative sessions to explain the bill to various sectors and reported to the Legislative Council after analyzing more than 13,000 proposals in less than a week, the CE said, adding that it had finalized the draft of the bill in only nine days for scrutiny by the LegCo.
Praising the taskforce on Article 23 of the Basic Law as "the hero", Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said it had plugged the loophole in safeguarding the national security and played an important role in reaching the milestone of the city's journey from stability to prosperity
The taskforce had answered nearly 1,000 questions during 25 related meetings at the LegCo and proposed 91 amendments, he pointed out.
Praising the taskforce as "the hero", Lee said it had plugged the loophole in safeguarding the national security and played an important role in reaching the milestone of the city's journey from stability to prosperity.
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"The taskforce has resolutely rejected the smearing and attacks from external forces with strong arguments. They deserve the award as they are my hero and the SAR's defender. I feel very proud of them," he said.
The first recipient of the award, which was established in June 2023, was the government's search and rescue team that went on a nine-day mission in Türkiye to find survivors after a major earthquake in February last year.
Airport runway incident
Talking on the closure of the north runway of the Hong Kong International Airport for almost eight hours after a cargo plane had a burst a tyre during an emergency landing Monday morning, the CE said a response mechanism had followed with notifications, an arrangement of public transport and an increase in manpower.
Flight services at the airport were disrupted and delayed after the 7:30 am incident Monday.
Highlighting the importance of safety, Lee said the action taken was in accordance to the contigency plan and the matter had been handled safely.
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This incident happened due to the burst of the cargo plane's tyre and the failure of the hydraulic system. It took additional time to offload the cargo. We will review the whole process and see how to speed up the procedures.
John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive
"This incident happened due to the burst of the cargo plane's tyre and the failure of the hydraulic system. It took additional time to offload the cargo. We will review the whole process and see how to speed up the procedures."
The carrier involved will submit a report to the Airport Authority Hong Kong and the Civil Aviation Department, while the Transport and Logistics Bureau would scrutinize the report to see if any extra action could be taken, he added.
"We will ask for a detailed report and could look for areas of improvement," he said, expressing his belief that similar incidents can be tackled more efficiently with the full commissioning of the third runway.
HKU governance
Regarding an investigation into the internal affairs of the University of Hong Kong, Lee said the investigation group set up by the government last week initially found that some vice-presidents positions have remained vacant for five years and the positions had changed hands five times in four years during the vacancy.
Calling the situation "unsatisfactory", the CE said, "It is impossible not to affect the overall administration."
"If the interests of the HKU should be given a top priority, I don't think there is a difficulty in finding solutions. If there is a will, there is a way," he stressed.
Asked about the possible expansion of high-speed sleeper train services, the CE said the authorities will continue to monitor the popularity and demand and take a holistic approach in making decisions.
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He also mentioned that the system that overseas judges participate in scrutinizing cases at the Final Court of Appeal will not be changed and the city's judiciary will also not be changed over any judge's personal views.