Secretary for Security Tang Ping Keung today said it is appropriate to maintain the threat of terrorist attacks faced by Hong Kong at the moderate level, and any decision to raise the threat level should be made with prudence.

Mr Tang told legislators that the moderate level means there is a possibility of an attack but there is no specific intelligence suggesting that Hong Kong is likely to be a target.

Police assessment shows that the chance of lone-wolf attacks under individual circumstances cannot be ruled out but there is currently no concrete intelligence indicating that such an attack will happen.

Mr Tang said Police continually assess the situation and intelligence. Once specific and reliable intelligence is obtained, such as a terrorist organisation’s plan to launch an attack which poses a tangible threat to the public, the threat level would be raised to high based on the assessment.

When that happens, an immediate alert will be made to the public and a series of escalated preventive measures may be required to stop the attack from happening, such as requiring security checks on personal belongings of all bus and MTR passengers or even closing some MTR stations.

As for the airport, it may also be necessary to step up passenger luggage and incoming vehicle checks. As such, members of the public and travellers may be required to arrive at the airport three to five hours in advance.

All these measures will inevitably bring inconvenience to the public. Given the wide impact, the decision to raise the threat level of terrorist attacks is a very prudent one, with safeguarding public safety being the prime consideration.

Such a decision is made based on specific intelligence, as any hasty move may cause public inconvenience or even panic, the security chief added.

Citing the lone-wolf attack on July 1 as a concrete example, Mr Tang pointed out that the attackers in the violent attack cases in Hong Kong in recent years have very often been affected by false information on the Internet and online messages for inciting violence and hatred.

On the proposal to legislate against fake news, he said as the work involves many complicated and controversial issues, the Secretary for Home Affairs will seriously examine the experience and practices of other countries and places to provide reference for the next step of work.