Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung gives an exclusive interview to China Daily on April 8, 2022. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Secretary for Security Chris Tang is on the show this week.
Tang says Hong Kong still needs to enact Article 23 to close the loophole that still exists in the existing laws. Also, he says the government is providing assistance to young people who previously received punishment for their role in the 2019 riots, so that they can return to society and get back on their feet.
Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Chris Tang.
Chan: Welcome to Straight Talk with Eugene Chan. We have Mr Chris Tang, the Secretary for Security, with us this evening to talk about if our city's safety is assured for the future. Mr Tang joined the Hong Kong Police Force as an inspector in 1987 and was appointed as Commissioner of Police in 2019. He has received training at various mainland and overseas institutions in leadership and defense. Welcome, Chris!
Tang: Good evening, Eugene.
Chan: You're the secretary for security. So, I must tell you from many viewers' point of view, Hong Kong has always been known as one of the safest cities in the world. However, as you know, since 2013, with the Occupy Central, 2016, with Mong Kok riot, not to mention, in 2019, we have the riots, Hong Kong, it seems not to be a very safe place, until the national security legislation was enacted in 2020, then things are starting to get back to peace and order. So, this evening, we're going to talk about if safety is assured for Hong Kong's future, and you are the best person to tell us. And as you know, safety also, or security, encompasses all levels, even including health, especially the last three years when we have the pandemic. And many people know that the Security Bureau has done a lot for the fight against the pandemic. Maybe you can share with the viewers some of the highlights or from the good work you have done.
Tang: Yes, of course. You know the fight against the epidemic of course is one of the top priorities of our government. And, in fact, it's the Health Bureau to lead. But all other bureaus and other departments, we also contribute to the fight against epidemic. So, for the Security Bureau, and the departments and our umbrella. So, basically, there are a number of things that we did, first of all, we do a lot of the … we call it the, RTD operation, which is commonly known as cordon and examinations. So, we have to do the cordon and to facilitate the examination for the residents of a particular building or a particular estate. And then, we do contact tracing, we have a lot of detectives, or who are, you know, have a background in human investigation, to do the contact tracing to trace for the origin of the infected persons. And, of course, we do the management of the community isolation facilities, including currently the Kai Tak, and also the Penny's Bay, we talk about in this wave, we have about 9,000 people at the peak during that period of time. And of course, we also do a lot of enforcement, including the, like the red code enforcement, enforcement on specific premises, and also enforcement on gathering restriction orders, and also on the face masks order. So basically, we were quite heavily involved in different aspects of work.
Chan: Right. So, Chris, the CE, Mr John Lee, has said people who have not complied with the prevention and control disease ordinance are actually hindering the epidemic effectiveness and the opening of Hong Kong. Do you agree?
Tang: I can't agree more on that. Like, for example, since the enforcement of the red code, we have 42 people, you know, they violate the red code, and we have to escort them to Penny's Bay or Kai Tak. And out of them, you know, we have prosecuted … we have summoned seven of them. And, as a matter of fact, during our enforcement action, we have arrested three people for using a false LeaveHomeSafe QR code, and also we’ve arrested 17 people who use a vaccine pass that belongs to other people. And I will say this kind of violation is not just breaching the law, and they also affect the integrity of our whole effort in fighting against the COVID. And I will say they, they're very selfish and they actually need to be condemned.
Chan: Right, Chris. I'm sure many viewers have read in the news that there were seven medical doctors there who were, I mean, kind of arrested because they may be issuing false medical exemption certificates. What is your take on that? Are you surprised?
Tang: So, actually, I'm quite surprised by that. Because, you know, being a medical doctor, which is quite reputable profession, and people do believe and rely on them. But when you look at those blatantly, you know, violating not just the law, but also their professional code. We’re talking about issuing those exemption certificates to those people without any actually medical evidence. You just do it for money, I think, which is really letting people down.
Chan: Right? As you know, now we have the zero-plus-three quarantine measure, do you think this is going to affect our reopening of a boundary with the mainland? Do you think it’s going to affect?
Tang: I don't think so. I think opening the boundary with the mainland and opening the border with overseas people are two different issues and you can do it altogether. You're not, you know, doing it overseas, and you will affect the mainland. I'm sure both the mainland and Hong Kong would like to see the opening of the boundary as soon as possible. But of course, we have to take into consideration of the epidemic situation.
Chan: Right. There's someone who mentioned about the pre-departure quarantine arrangement. Is that one of the possibilities that we may have?
Tang: Actually, we are actively discussing with our counterpart. Of course, it is led by the Health Bureau. If it becomes materialized, we will be responsible to manage the facilities. But of course, some details have yet to work out.
Chan: Right. As we know, I mean, you're running the community isolation facilities. There's also some talk of when the pandemic really quietens down, they may change it to transitional housing. Is that a good idea, do you think?
Tang: Of course, we have to utilize all the resources available to the government, of course, it will be a government decision as to whether they should remain on standby, or it should be changed to other use that can benefit the society as a whole.
Chan: Right. You know, Penny's Bay is a term that can be quite scary at an early age. And I realize some of the public perception of the running of the clinical community isolation facility has improved drastically. Since you have taken over the running of the facilities, can you share with the viewers, what have you done to make such a big difference to the impact of the community?
Tang: I think that basically the running of the operation of the CIF is all along for a good. But the point is, in the beginning, there are people who tried to, you know, do it on purpose to smear the facilities and try to create public fear. You know, with a view to create dissatisfaction in the government. So, they do it on purpose. So, basically what they did is through misinformation, some fake pictures … as you remember in the beginning, there are pictures showing that the ceiling is falling. And they said there's no separation of toilets. They talk about how bad it is. But actually, these are all misinformation. So, we place a lot of effort into doing a … we've a transparent … and then we do some publicity. And like in the operation of the Kai Tak CIF, before it opens, we invited our friends from the media actually to have a look at our facilities and have a look on how we're going to manage, so it will dispel all these smearing effort. So, I think openness is important.
Chan: Secretary, maybe we move on to another area that has attracted the public attention is the control of the CBD products. Many people have been told that the age of consuming drugs in our Hong Kong community is getting lower and lower even, though some of the primary school children are trying to test on drugs. This is very worrying. Is that the reason why you are pushing on this regulation?
Tang: Right. First of all, when we look at the figure of people reporting that they have drug abuse, or the people being arrested for drug-related offences, in the past 10 years, basically there's a continuous decrease, but at the same time, there's a continuous increase in the abuse of cannabis. So, cannabis is the substance that we need to take very seriously. And then you have to know what CBD is. So, CBD is extracted from cannabis. But it is still not regulated for the time being. But chemically, there's a side product which is called THC, which is a psychoactive and which is considered as a kind of drug. So when you extract CBD, it will be very difficult to extract it without THC. THC co-exists with the CBD. And in fact, as a matter of fact, since 2019, we have 220 operations against CBD. And from the product that we found one-third of them, which is over 4000 pieces of this substance contained THC. And so, THC, it's psychoactive, and they can attack your nerves and you will be addicted to that. And so, I think there's a need to control CBD.
Chan: Secretary, CBD products in other parts of the world may not be as regulated or people are using it freely. So, how will that affect Hong Kong as an international financial center per se?
Tang: I mean every country has its own culture. Even in some countries they consider cannabis as legal. I mean, in terms of Hong Kong, we have zero tolerance about cannabis. And yet, although CBD itself is not psychoactive per se, but I mean, people will induce you saying that “come on, CBD is not a drug, no problem”. And then CBD is derived from cannabis. So, there's no problem with cannabis at all. So, you take cannabis as well. So, I think this is also another issue that we have to look into.
Chan: What will be the penalty, if you're found to be in possession of this. Is it going to be quite a strict penalty on this?
Tang: Basically, we're planning to put CBD as a kind of drug. So, if you possess CBD, it will be equally as possessing of like cannabis. So, it will be the same.
Chan: Right, Secretary, we have to take a break now, but stay with us viewers. We will be right back.
Chan: Welcome back. With us this evening is Mr Chris Tang, Secretary for Security. And he has been talking to us about how the Security Bureau is actively guarding the safety of our city’s health amidst this pandemic. So, Secretary, we have talked about the work on all the community isolation facilities, and you mentioned about the importance of the control of the CBD products. Let’s move on to another area that many people are concerned, that so-called fake news, all these misinformation about Hong Kong. People still remember in 2019. There were a lot of all these misinformation about people getting killed, all these things that was not true being circulated, and really incited a lot of people. So, is that the reason why this term of government has put a lot of emphasis onto the social media?
Tang: Of course. First of all, you have to look at the nature of fake news or misinformation, right? So, it is something that they know is not true but they tell people as if it is true, and with a purpose. I mean when you look back, what is the effect of fake news? And they create hatred against the government, they create distrust against the government, and they divide the society, and they also provoke discontent. So, these are all the purpose of the fake news. So, bear that in mind what happened in 2019, as you have said, they talked about massive killing by police during Aug 31, and they are like massive sexual abuse in San Uk Ling, in which they are all fake and proven to be fake. So, I think we have to address this problem.
Chan: Right. You know with the implementation of the national security legislation in 2020, much of the society has restored order, as I mentioned earlier. And there is still news saying we will be planning to enact the Article 23. Is there still such a need? Because everything is such peaceful now and we have the national security legislation. Do we still need it?
Tang: Of course. You know, when you look at the society, it is rather peaceful for the time being. But there's no room for complacency because there is always element, including external element, on local terrorism. And they would like to see a chaotic situation in Hong Kong. So, Article 23 is not just a constitutional responsibility, there is a practical need. Because under Article 23, we have 7 types of offenses or circumstances that we need to take care of. And the national security law is also taking care of two things, just like secession and also subversion. But it has the treason, the sedition, and the theft of state secret, and also to prohibit overseas political organizations, and also the prohibition of the Hong Kong political organizations establishing ties with overseas political organizations. They remain untouched. So, we have to enact law to close the loop of these areas.
Chan: Right. So, what is the biggest concern at the moment for national security? Because all of us can now enjoy safety on the street, we can actually do anything without fear. Like many other cities in the world that you can’t walk in the middle of night, say London or New York, you get worried. So, is there still anything you are worried?
Tang: Yes, of course. As I said, there's no room for complacency. When you look at the geopolitical situation globally, there are always external forces that they would like to maintain their hegemony, and they are afraid the development of mainland China will affect their hegemony. So, they will use whatever means, including smearing, including inciting people of Hong Kong, to be against the mainland. So, these always remain a threat.
Chan: Right. You mentioned, also last week, before the Oct 1 celebration that we have to be very vigilant about, especially all these special occasions. Did you have intelligence on it? I mean intelligence.
Tang: By nature on some special days, people may make use of that opportunity to advocate independence of Hong Kong or the independence of Taiwan, which is seriously tempering the national security of Hong Kong and also of China.
Chan: Right. So, just now you were explaining to us why we still need to enact the Article 23, and I'm sure people still remember in nearly 20 years ago, in 2003, there were a lot of opposition on this law being enacted. Do you anticipate the same is going to happen? What are you going to do to making sure the society, the community, especially the younger generation, fully comprehend of the rationale behind this?
Tang: Of course, we do expect there will be someone using the excuse to, again, create hatred among the society, or they divide the society, and they will say it’s no good to have such a law. But when you look at what happened overseas, every country has national security related law. In the United States, they have over 20 legal provisions. And actually recently, the UK is also trying to enact their national security bill, which is addressing a similar situation. So, I think any effort to suppress Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland in protecting our security will fail.
Chan: Right. Another term that often comes up recently is the word ‘soft resistance’. What can you do when it is soft?
Tang: I think we have to tell the truth to the people of Hong Kong and let them know that what has actually happened and why some in the western world, they try to smear our government, and they try to smear our country. And actually we live in Hong Kong, we know that we enjoy all kinds of freedom. We know that there's no like a massive human trafficking in Hong Kong, but you know in some of the reports, they described Hong Kong as the worst place in the world. So, this is an effort trying to smear Hong Kong and try to smear our country. So, we have to counteract.
Chan: Right. Chris, as we mentioned repeatedly through all our shows and today, that youth is … I mean that part of the society is somewhere that we are very concerned about. And we know that it has been reported more than half of the protesters convicted for their roles in the 2019 anti-government demonstration have expressed deep remorse over their actions. Can you tell us about more what we can help them to kind of rehabilitate them to get back into the society?
Tang: So, as you said, a lot of youth, they are being instigated or provoked to use violence or to commit offenses during the 2019 incidents. I mean after they … of course, they broke the law, they have to serve the legal consequence. But we observed that about 60 percent to 70 percent of them feel deep remorse because they now understand that they are being provoked. And they know more about actually what happened, they know more about our country, and they now have kind of a positive thinking. And actually they really feel remorse and they would like to turn a new life. So, in our institution, we try to help them to rehabilitate, apart from their psychological state, and we also try to help them in education, and in our vocational training, and in their future development as well.
Chan: I heard that some of them were university students but they have difficulty getting back into their course. Can we help them?
Tang: Actually we are working with some education institution to help them to complete their degree course. And this is one of the major things that we need to do. And, actually, we are also working with a lot of… like the commercial sector, business sector, they are very helpful in offering like job opportunities or placement opportunities for those youth people. In particular, some of them would actually like to offer some placement or workplace in the Greater Bay Area, so that they can know more about our country, and to know more about the world.
Chan: Right, as we all discussed, we know that we need a greater sense of national identity. Can the disciplinary forces do anything since they are right under your arms?
Tang: All right. In fact, our disciplinary forces, we all run youth programs, and through the youth programs, apart from nurturing their leadership, also their sense of identity of being a Chinese, and to nurture their patriotism. We do it through like flag raising ceremony, like practicing Chinese foot drill, and to try to organize some visits to the mainland.
Chan: Right. I mean you are, being the Secretary for Security, how would you advise the government to engage the different levels of community in being more serious about the national identity issue that we once had a problem with?
Tang: Of course, this is the whole government’s effort. I think we need to do it through education, including formal education. And now we have put national education back into the curriculums. And we also need to do it through cultural changes, like advocate the national flag raising, and we do exhibitions, and we do forums. And I think on some particular dates, for example, on April 15, which is the National Security Education Day, and use whatever means to advocate the national security and identity.
Chan: Right. So, Secretary, we know the Policy Address by the Chief Executive is going to be in a couple weeks’ time. Anything from the Bureau that you can preempt the viewers, that we can have first-hand information tonight?
Tang: Of course, you know it’s drafted by the Chief Executive. I don't have a crystal ball. And I will leave it to him.
Chan: All right. So, thank you Chris, for telling us all the initiatives the Security Bureau are taking to ensure Hong Kong remains a safe city, so that as we open up, people can have confidence to live and work here. Have a pleasant evening and goodnight!
