Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (July 8):

Reporter: Mr Cheung, what is your response to the petition against the possible appointment of Christine Choi?

Chief Secretary for Administration: Well, we have proper procedures for appointing undersecretaries and also political assistants. In fact, there will be an appointment committee chaired by the Chief Executive and also comprising the three secretaries, including myself, the Financial Secretary and also the Secretary for Justice. We will certainly look at the qualities of the individual candidates, particularly their commitment to Hong Kong, their abilities and also their overall potentials. We will take into account all factors before coming to a view.

Reporter: What do you think about the first week of work as the Chief Secretary under the new government?

Chief Secretary for Administration: I think we have a pretty good start, a pretty harmonious start. Quite encouraging but we need to work harder to gain the hearts and minds of everybody, not just Legislative Council members, but also the whole community. That is why we will reach out more to the community. We will listen more to the community, everybody, and we will certainly respond swiftly to public demands where appropriate. We will also interact more with all sectors of the community, innovate policy thinking and, at the same time, we will try to collaborate on all fronts. So this is our catchwords.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Saturday, July 8, 2017
Issued at HKT 10:49

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