Govt may break another promise over high-speed rail link; CY Leung says no more donations to universities.
Photo: Chris Lusher
Government & LegCo
High-speed rail link mainland section to add 2 stops without prior notice to Hong Kong lawmakers
– Ming Pao reported that the number of stops in the mainland section of the Express Rail Link (ch) was increased from four stops to six stops, implying that it would be unlikely to make it from West Kowloon to Guangzhou with 48 minutes, contrary to the government’s claim
– According to the report, the two added stations have been in use since Dec 2011, while Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung still claimed there would only be four stations in between Hong Kong and Guangzhou earlier this month
– Both chairman and vice chairman of the LegCo’s Panel on Transport Michael Tien and Tang Ka-piu said they were unaware of the change
Police restore official account of 1967 riots after controversial revision
– The police force will restored its official account of the 1967 riots as early as Friday, according to SCMP
– The controversy came when sensitive terms such as “communist militia” and “gunmen” were rephrased and detailed description of events such as leftist mobs threatening public transport drivers who refused to join the strike were removed
Stop giving donations to universities, CY Leung tells business sector
– CY Leung, as Chancellor of Hong Kong’s public universities, reportedly urged the business sector not to offer more donations to the institutes (ch) during closed meetings, saying that the money should be diverted to support scientific researches as well as primary and secondary schools instead
– Meanwhile, more rumours came suggesting that the government would announce the appointment of Arthur Li as chairman of the University of Hong Kong Council by Dec 31
Homosexual civil servant challenges in court government’s refusal to grant full benefits
– A senior immigration officer challenged in the High Court the government’s refusal to recognise his same-sex marriage and denied him the same benefits as heterosexual couples
– The officer joined the government in 2002, met his partner in 2005 in Hong Kong and the two married in Auckland, New Zealand in April last year
– The officer said he approached the Civil Service Bureau and the tax department in bid to change his martial status but the attempts were ill-fated
General Politics
Mainland academic warns of ‘neo-localism’
– Fan Peng, an academic and member of the mainland think tank Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, warned of the rise of “neo-localism” which would advocate “full autonomy” and may “coalesce with anti-China and anti-communist elements in Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries to create a more deep-rooted crisis in the field of culture and ideology”
– The remarks came one day after Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang said localism could become a constructive force to unite the community
