Transcript of remarks by Secretary for Security
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Reporter: Given that the Hong Kong Garrison of the PLA (People's Liberation Army) has a unit specialised in nuclear decontamination, it seems unusual they were not invited to the exercise. Do you have any remarks on that?
S for S: We believe that an incident such as what we have planned for today's exercise will be well handled within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government capabilities. You look at that there are over 30 departments and bureaux involved in today's exercise. They all understand their responsibilities, and Mr Isnard will tell you later that all the plans of actions conform with the international standard, and in our assessment of the contingency plan we strongly believe that it is within the capabilities and the resources of the HKSAR Government. So our contingency plan contains the role of all the government departments in Hong Kong, and our plan of action does not involve the PLA. Having said that, we are in very good dialogue and liaison with the Mainland authorities in regard to nuclear safety and also emergency response, and they always give us good advice as to how we should respond to incidents of this kind. Although the track record of the Daya Bay Power Plant is very good and the likelihood of such an incident happening is very slim, we need to plan for all eventualities. That is why we have a contingency plan to clearly delineate the responsibilities and duties of each department, and that is how we thought about our contingency plan.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Issued at HKT 19:20
Issued at HKT 19:20
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