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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, at a media session after his meetings with the Hong Kong News Executives' Association and the Hong Kong Journalists Association at the Central Government Offices today (August 31):
At the meeting with NEA and JA just now, I emphasised the Government's determination to uphold the freedom of the press and freedom of expression as one of our core values.
In response to the specific concerns of the media, I made a few points.
(1) Official coverage by Government Information Services is not intended to, nor can it replace the role of the media.
(2) The Government and the media share the same responsibility, which is to serve the public. It is important to maintain our continuing and effective dialogue.
(3) There is room to improve the press arrangements for official events. We will continue to discuss this with the media and make suitable adjustments in future as we move forward.
(4) We will review the security measures in relation to press coverage to ensure that these measures are reasonable and they are appropriate. We will seek to strike the right balance between security arrangements and the protection of civil rights as well as press freedom.
I also noticed that my open remarks on August 19 had attracted much concern. I want to make two clarifications.
First, when I said every activity of the Vice Premier had been covered by the media, I meant it was through open press, pool arrangement or official coverage. I had no intention to suggest that official coverage could in any way replace the role of the media.
Second, I used the word "rubbish" when I referred to the allegation that the Government had violated civil rights. I had emphasised that we fully respected press freedom. Hong Kong people's civil rights are protected by the Basic Law and the Government has a duty to uphold these rights. I therefore felt very strongly about the allegation that we violated civil rights in any way.
With hindsight, if my choice of words has caused any misunderstanding, this was absolutely not my intention.
Reporter: Will you apologise for the choice of language and for the way that the press has been handled during the visit?
Chief Secretary for Administration: Like I said earlier, if the expression had caused any misunderstanding, it was not my intention. The Government upholds the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression, not only because it is protected by the Basic Law, but it is my core value as well as yours. Therefore, if the expression had caused any misunderstanding, that was not my intention, and I will take this as an incident that will remind me in future.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:23
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