#JUSTIN#CarrieLam said she told LegCo president this morning that she has to postpone pronouncement of Policy Address originally set on Wednesday morning. Lam said this arrangement is legally sound as it's up to CE to determine the day according to LegCo ordinance.
#CarrieLam said she has to postpone Policy Address because she just got a notification from Beijing asking her to pay a visit to the central government later this month, likely after 20 October, to seek approval of certain policies and projects
#CarrieLam said a HK government delegation led by her will set off to Shenzhen later today. Members of the delegation include Financial Secretary, Secretary for Justice, Security Secretary, Mainland Affairs Secretary, Innovation Secretary, and Chief Executive Office Director.
"I did not procrastinate till today to announce, I have been waiting till today to announce you may say," #CarrieLam said.
Lam said she only got Beijing's invitation to visit on the past weekend.
#CarrieLam did not specify what "policies and projects" are so special that she must seek Beijing's approval. Lam said "a wide range" of issues are supposed to be touched on, including Greater Bay Area, financial services, innovation and tech, and international shipping centre.
#CarrieLam emphasized that she had no intention to belittle her Policy Address or arbitrarily delayed the announcement of plan change.
Lam said she notified LegCo president "as soon as she learned that she would be arranged to visit Beijing", and "it's still morning of Monday".
#CarrieLam said she decided to postpone Policy Address in order to produce a "more balanced and substantial" report to HK people.
"Do I have to be so stubborn to deliver on that specific day but leave HK people in dissappointment?"
"I don't want to make any more comment about them (the #12HKers )," #CarrieLam said.
#CarrieLam denied she was left on a passive position.
"I think I am rather proactive. I personally combed through series of policies to revitalize HK's economy...and the central government said I could go and discuss them. This is exactly the essence of One Country Two Systems"
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Mainland lawyer Lu Siwei working on the case of #12HKers issued a new legal opinions, saying:
1) He expects the Shenzhen prosecutors not to extend detention for investigation beyond the 2 months' limit
2) He expects the 2 underaged among the 12 won't be prosecuted as...
...the prosecutors are allowed by China's laws not to and it fulfils international conventions
3) He suggests that families have rights to information, communications and meetings, and they may ask HK's delegates to Beijing to discharge their duties...
...by demanding Yantian authorities to correct their wrongs via the Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People's Procuratorate
At the end of his opinion, Lu wrote:
"The 8.23 illegal border crossing case is nothing more than a very ordinary case. However...
#NOW HK police's organised crime unit arrested 4 men and 5 women aged 27 to 72 this morning for "arresting fugitives".
The case is related to the 12 HKers intercepted by China coastguard on 23 Aug and since have been detained in Shenzhen.
"We suspected that these 9 persons assisted the 12 people to run from justice in court," the police said.
The 9 persons are alleged to have provided the speedboat, funding, accommodation before the trip and after arrival in Taiwan, and a car ride to the departure spot.
Police said they seized HK$500,000 in cash, some computers and mobile phones, and several hundreds of thousand worth boat trip transaction invoices.
The 9 people mostly reported to be "friends" of the 12 HKers.
#NOW HK education secretary Kevin Yeung said to weed out black sheep in education sector is for the purpose of "defending dignity of educators and public trust in them".
Since protests broke out last June, the Education Bureau received 247 complaints against teachers, among which 73 were found invalid.
Among the rest, 1 teacher has been deregistered (on 22 Sep), 21 were condemned, 12 got warning letter, 19 written advice, 18 got verbal reminder
Michelle Li, permanent secretary for education, said the punishment was "reasonable" and "proportionate" as the case is deemed "very serious".
Li said the teacher "placed emphasis on HK independence" and "induce students to discuss whether they agree with HK independence".
One month ago on 23 August, #12HKers were arrested on a speedboat reportedly intercepted by Guangdong coastguard some 70km to the southeast of HK.
In this #thread, let's review what has not happened and what has:
1) Families and lawyers hired by them have not been allowed...
...to meet any of the 12 in person, who, according to mainland authorities, have been detained in Yantian Detention Centre since at last 25 August.
2) Today, 4 lawyers hired by families of 4 detainees went to the detention centre and demanded meeting but...
...in vain. 3 of the 4 lawyers were told their clients had each got "two other lawyers". Previously in an exclusive interview with TVB, HK's security minister John Lee said each of the 12 had got 2 lawyers from a list provided by the mainland authorities. Till today, HK gov...
HK police said it is amending Police General Order to narrow definition of “media” they recognise and allow to be covering protests in a letter to 4 journo associations.
After change, only 2 types of media are recognised: 1) local media registered in gov’s GNMIS system
And 2) internationally recognised and renown media.
Such amendment means
1) HKJA and HKPPA membership cards, which are owned and worn by many independent journalists in the city, are no longer recognised.
2) Proof of identity issued by media that is not registered with the...
...HK gov and intl media that is not deemed “international renown” won’t be recognised either.
While DOJ is seeking the High Court’s clarification on the applicability of the “joint enterprise” doctrine in cases of unlawful assembly and rioting, this move by police...