Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Email this article Government Homepage
LCQ1: Government officials attend RTHK's programmes
***************************************************

    Following is a question by the Hon Ronny Tong and a reply by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph WP Wong, in the Legislative Council today (November 29):

Question:

     Since April 1 this year, the Chief Executive (CE) has made a number of public speeches through Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK): five times on the programme "Hong Kong Letter" on Radio 1 and twice on the programme "Letter to Hong Kong" on Radio 3. This is far more frequent than that of the former CE. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) among these seven public speeches, of the respective numbers of speeches made at the request of the Chief Executive's Office (CE's Office) and at the invitation of RTHK; as well as the respective reasons for CE's Office and RTHK making such requests and invitations;

(b) of the respective numbers of invitations, with a breakdown by channels, which RTHK has made, since January 1 this year, to CE, the Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux inviting them to be the host or guest speaker of its programmes; and

(c) of the criteria adopted by RTHK for inviting CE, the Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux to be the host or guest speaker of its programmes?

Reply:

Madam President,

     The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region always puts people first. It is necessary for, and the responsibility of, the Government to explain government policies and the rationale behind policies to all sectors of society through all effective channels, including newspapers, television, radio and other media, in order to gain the public's endorsement and support, as well as to maintain governance transparency and implement policies smoothly. Therefore, it is well justified for the CE, Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux, as well as other government officials to explain and promote government policies through relevant programmes of RTHK.

     RTHK is a government department that serves as a public service broadcaster. Under the Framework Agreement between the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology and the Director of Broadcasting (Framework Agreement), one of the objectives of RTHK's radio and television services is to provide a channel of communication for the Government to explain and promote government policies.

     According to RTHK's existing programming editorial policy and arrangements, the programme "Hong Kong Letter" simulcast on Radio 1 and Radio 5 provides a platform where academics, government officials and members of the community analyse social phenomena and express their personal feelings in letter form. Since January this year, out of the 47 episodes of "Hong Kong Letter" in total, the CE has appeared on the programme five times, the Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux five times, other officials three times, and academics and other members of the community 34 times.

     As for the programme "Letter to Hong Kong" on RTHK's Radio 3 (English channel), government officials and members of political parties take turn to express their views to the public in the form of a letter in English. Out of the 48 episodes of "Letter to Hong Kong" broadcast since January this year, the CE has appeared on the programme two times, the Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux four times, Legislative Council Members 40 times, and other members of the community three times. Out of the 40 episodes attended by legislators, members of the Civil Party attended 13 times, the Frontier seven times, the Liberal Party six times, the Democratic Party four times, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong three times, and other legislators seven times.

     In addition to the above two programmes, RTHK produces many other current affairs and general programmes. In some programmes, such as "Dialogue with Secretaries" and "Accountability", the guests are mainly government officials. There are some other programmes, such as "Party Line" and "Civil Society", which are produced merely for political parties and other social organisations to attend and express their views.

     Regarding Parts (a), (b) and (c) of the question, my reply is as follows:

(a) According to my understanding, the CE delivered all the seven public speeches mentioned above at the invitation of RTHK. RTHK invited the CE to give the speeches based on its role as a public service broadcaster and the aforesaid nature of the programmes "Hong Kong Letter" and "Letter to Hong Kong".

(b) During the period from January 1 to November 27, 2006, the total number of attendance by the CE, Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux at RTHK programmes (including the programmes "Hong Kong Letter", "Letter to Hong Kong", "Dialogue with Secretaries" and "Accountability" I have just mentioned) as hosts or guests, breakdown by radio channels, is as follows:

Simulcast of Radio 1, Radio 3 (English Channel),
Radio 5 and Putonghua Channel    :1
Simulcast of Radio 1, Radio 5
and Putonghua Channel            :1
Simulcast of Radio 1 and Radio 5 :38
Radio 1                          :12
Radio 2                          :1
Radio 3 (English Channel)        :7
Putonghua Channel                :1
Total                            :61

     The figures therein do not include programme relays and telephone interviews.

(c) RTHK invites the CE, Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux to attend its programmes as hosts or guests according to the nature and RTHK's editorial policy of relevant programmes.

Ends/Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:30

NNNN