The seven police officers and Ken Tsang granted bail; LingU Council agrees to discuss law amendment on CE as chancellor.
Photo: Chris Lusher
Government & LegCo
Pan-dem lawmaker in bid to bring CE under anti-bribery law
– Labour Party Cyd Ho will move a member’s bill at the LegCo meeting to amend the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (ch) to bring the CE under the law
– Meanwhile, pan-dems are urging for more government funding for LegCoelection campaign, which currently stands at HKD12 a vote, to cover at least half of a candidate’s campaign expenses as Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau slammed the subsidy rate as “mean”
Law Reform Commission: Third party funding for arbitration taking place in Hong Kong should be permitted
– The Law Reform Commission proposed a reform of the Arbitration Ordinance to “expressly permit third party funding for arbitration, subject to compliance by third party funders with appropriate ethical and financial standards”
– The commission will launch a consultation in accordance until Jan 18, 2016
– Meanwhile, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau is also inviting comments from the public on the implementation of International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Lawmaker to propose relaxing restrictions on doctors trained overseas
– Tommy Cheung of the Liberal Party is proposing a reform to make it easier for doctors who obtained their qualifications overseas to practice in Hong Kong by increasing the number of lay members appointed to the Medical Council from four to eight alongside 24 other members
– Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority (ch) will discuss the feasibility of introducing a mechanism to review salaries of its staff on Thursday as the Hong Kong Medical Association, the Hong Kong Doctors Union, the Association of Private Medical Specialists of Hong Kong, and Médecins Inspirés all stated their supports to a sit-in protest on Wednesday by doctors in fight for pay rise
Politics (General)
Occupy protester Ken Tsang and seven officers allegedly beating him bailed by court
– The seven police officers accused of beating Occupy protester and Civic Party member Ken Tsang was granted bail of HKD1,000 each as 33 witnesses, mostly police officers, were summoned to the Eastern Magistrates’ Court
– Pro-Beijing loyalist Leticia Lee See-yin led a protest outside the courts to show supports to the seven officers – she was later asked to leave the courts after trying take photos of the hearing
– Meanwhile Tsang, himself being charged with one count of assault and four counts of obstructing a public officer, was granted HKD300 bail
Lingnan University Council chair agrees to look into law that makes CE chancellor as students stage protest
– 21 members of the Lingnan University Council (Junius Ho not included) after a brief meeting sat on the stairs outside the venue to talk with students who staged a sit-in to urge the Council to look into the issue of abolishing the CE’s status as Chancellor and his power to appoint 18 out of 33 Council members
– Council chairman Rex Au Yeung Pak-kuen and University President Leonard Cheng refused to comment on the amendment but agreed to add the the establishment of a special committee onto the agenda of the next Council meeting
DAB to hold roundtable meetings; Rural leaders seek representation of their own in LegCo
– The pro-Beijing DAB will hold three ‘roundtable conferences (ch)’ in the upcoming month to discuss policies concerning macroeconomics, housing, health and welfare
– Former Financial Secretary Antony Leung, Centaline founder Shih Wing-ching, Hongkong Land CEO Pang Yiu-kai, as well as former democrats Nelson Wong and Tik Chi-yuen were on the guest list
– Meanwhile, rural leaders led by Heung Yee Kuk are planning to form their own political party with grabbing two seats in the LegCo in next year’s election as their target
