(Clearwisdom.net)

Tang Ying Yen Henry
Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
1/F - 2/F Murray Building Garden Road
Central
Hong Kong

Secretary Tang:

On the 26^th, the Hong Kong Legislative Council received a complaint letter (a copy of which is attached) from a "Hong Kong resident" pointing out that the advertisements about Article 23 that the Hong Kong authorities broadcast on television and radio are "barbaric and nondescript", "making people upset, disgusted and sickened" and "teaching people bad things", because the advertisement claims that the Article 23 legislation is like "buying insurance". This resident said that Hong Kong society has certainly not achieved widespread public support of the legislation, therefore the authorities should not spend public funds to make and broadcast advertisements that purely gloss over the authorities' motives with the legislation in attempts to brainwash the audience and listeners, and endlessly bombard the taxpayers. This resident also requests the authorities to stop broadcasting such advertisements.

I personally agree with this resident's opinion, and hope to learn about:

1. How many versions Article 23 legislation advertisements have been made, and how much funding is involved?
2. What is the authority's policy on using public funds to make and broadcast propaganda promoting government policies, especially ones being disputed and that are still not carried out? If there is precedent, please give examples.
3. Will the authorities comply with the resident's request and stop making and broadcasting the propaganda about Article 23 legislation?

Look forward to your reply.

Best Wishes!

Yours Sincerely

Emily Wai-Hing Lau

February 27, 2003