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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Chi-chuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (June 8):
Question:
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (the Chairman) visited Hong Kong from the 17th to the 19th of last month to attend the Belt and Road Summit (the Summit) and other activities. The Police devised the security arrangements for the visit of the Chairman and other countries' dignitaries to Hong Kong according to the grading for counter-terrorism security operations. Apart from the designation of security zones at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong where the Chairman stayed, in the vicinity of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre where the Summit was held, and at a number of locations where the Chairman and his entourage passed by, substantial police manpower was even deployed to perform tight monitoring and to prevent crowd gathering in these locations. Also, a number of roads were closed off and temporary traffic arrangements were implemented. Some members of the public consider that the relevant security arrangements have not only wasted manpower and money, but also affected their daily living. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of water barriers, mills barriers and vehicles deployed by the Police, as well as the respective numbers of police officers and police dogs on duty during the aforesaid security operations; the respective numbers of staff members of other government departments rendering assistance during the security operations, with a breakdown by the government department to which they belonged;
(2) of the legal basis on which the Police determined the coverage of the relevant security zones; as some members of the public have queried that the coverage of the security zones was exceedingly large, whether the Police have responded to such queries; if the Police have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) given that the security grading for the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong was higher than that for the previous visits to Hong Kong by state leaders, of the reasons for the Police to have devised the security arrangements for the former visit according to the grading for counter-terrorism security operations;
(4) as there are views that the public activity areas where demonstrations could be held (demonstration areas), designated by the Police at the Gloucester Road Garden, the Fleming Road Garden and the Harbour Road Garden during the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong, were not only surrounded by double layers of water barriers but also far from the hotel where the Chairman stayed, thus making it impossible for the public to articulate their aspirations to the Chairman directly, whether the authorities have assessed if the Police's designation of such locations as demonstration areas had deprived the public of their freedom of speech, assembly and demonstration; and
(5) given that at the request of the Police, the Central-Wan Chai Bypass project and the MTR Shatin to Central Link project, which are still under construction, were suspended for four days during the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong, whether the authorities know the number of workers whose earnings have been reduced due to the suspension; the economic losses caused by the suspension to the projects, and whether such losses have to be paid by public funds?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the Hon Chan Chi-chuen's question is as follows:
(1) to (4) Whenever national leaders or foreign political dignitaries come to Hong Kong, the Police have the responsibility to take appropriate security measures for their personal safety, and ensure that the meetings and other events to be attended by them will be conducted in a safe and orderly manner. The Police had conducted comprehensive and professional risk assessments on factors including the situations of the international community, the Mainland and neighbouring regions, local circumstances, intelligence, the dignitary under protection and the events in which he would participate, and so on, and then adopted appropriate counter-terrorism security measures and deployment.
The purpose of setting up a "security zone" by the Police in their operations for protection of political dignitaries is to protect persons with security risks. Such a measure is taken by the Police for their proper discharge of duties, and such operations and arrangements have their legal basis. It is stipulated in section 10 of the Police Force Ordinance (Cap. 232) that the duties of the Police Force include taking lawful measures for preserving the public peace, preventing and detecting crimes and offences, and preventing injury to life and property. Every duty carries with it the power to perform that duty, and under section 39 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1), where any Ordinance confers any power or imposes any duty, then the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed from time to time as occasion requires. In fact, the Police made similar security arrangements when other political dignitaries visited Hong Kong in the past. Moreover, the setting up of a security zone is an internationally recognised good practice commonly adopted by security agencies of other countries or regions in security operations involving important persons or high-risk duties.
The Police respect the public's rights to assembly, procession and expression of views. While adhering to, as always, their principle of discharging duties in a fair and impartial manner and endeavour to facilitate peaceful public events, the Police, at the same time, have the responsibility to take effective measures to maintain public safety and public order. In formulating and implementing their security measures for the visit of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Mr Zhang Dejiang, to inspect Hong Kong, the Police had made every effort to strike a balance among such objectives as facilitating peaceful public assembly and procession, ensuring public safety and public order, as well as protecting the personal safety of the visiting dignitary.
The security measures and deployment concerned were mainly conducted by the Operations and Support Department, Crime and Security Department and other support units of the Police. Given that actual security deployment is a matter of operation details, any disclosure of such details is undesirable, because it may let criminals get hold of the Police's operational strategies and details thereof, which may compromise the Police's law enforcement capabilities.
(5) According to the information provided by the Transport and Housing Bureau, to meet the Police's request on security grounds for ensuring the orderly and safe conduct of the above-mentioned meeting, the construction sites of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass project, which stretched along the Wan Chai waterfront from the eastern end of Lung Wo Road to the western end of the new Wan Chai Ferry Pier, and those of the Shatin to Central Link project, which involved the section along Wan Chai North from the east of Lung Wo Road to the former bus terminus at Wan Chai North, were closed for four days between May 16 and 19, 2016. At the request of the Highways Department (HyD), the engineering consultants, MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) and the contractors had taken appropriate measures as and when necessary, with a view to minimising the possible impact on the projects arising from the temporary closure of such construction sites, and handled any related matters according to the provisions of the contracts. The financial implication would also be assessed in accordance with the terms of the contracts. Furthermore, upon HyD's instruction, the engineering consultants and MTRCL have required the contractors to take appropriate measures, including rescheduling of works sequences or redeployment of workers, with a view to avoiding affecting the income of workers during the temporary closure of sites.
Ends/Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:56
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