Views on law change welcomed

May 14, 2019

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung:
If the talk is about the internal procedure of the Legislative Council which is the issue at the moment, arguing about who should be the chairman, not the substance of the bill, not the content of the bill, then it will be inappropriate for the administration, for the executive authorities to intervene in what is essentially an internal procedural issue of the legislature and that’s pretty clear, internal procedure is to be dealt with internally. They have got to iron out the differences internally through their own way. That’s why I understand Honorable Abraham Shek will be writing to the House Committee Chairman this evening and much depends on the future direction coming out from these exchanges. We are closely following developments here. 

The second thing is, my door is always open, I am here representing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, extending a welcome to any political party. If they want to discuss the issue itself, the bill itself, I stand ready. My door is always open, we are ready to listen, we are ready to exchange views, and if there are any constructive ideas which we can adopt, we stand ready to consider them.

The Government is ready to exchange views on proposed changes to the fugitive law, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said today.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Cheung welcomed any political party to discuss the Fugitive Offenders & Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019.

“If they want to discuss the issue itself, the bill itself, I stand ready. My door is always open, we are ready to listen, we are ready to exchange views, and if there are any constructive ideas which we can adopt, we stand ready to consider them.”

He also said the Government would not intervene in the internal procedures of the Legislative Council, adding the LegCo needs to iron out differences internally.

“If the talk is about the internal procedure of the LegCo which is the issue at the moment, arguing about who should be the chairman, not the substance of the bill, not the content of the bill, then it will be inappropriate for the administration, for the executive authorities to intervene in what is essentially an internal procedural issue of the legislature.”