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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, on the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 at a media session in the Legislative Council (LegCo) Complex today (March 4):
Reporter: Mr So, now that the bill has come to a close and you're standing here alone, do you think you have ... enough support from the pro-establishment allies? Also, as an official responsible for the bill, do you bear any responsibility under the ...
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: Thank you for your question. I am not standing here alone. I have my team with me. And I thank the support of my team all these years that they have worked very hard on this bill. They have done an excellent job that is spoilt by the pan-democratic LegCo members. And the pro-establishment LegCo members, I understand a lot of them are now on their way to attend the meeting in Beijing. So perhaps you could find them elsewhere to ask them their views. But if you have listened to the debate earlier, you will see that they are in full support of the Government's position.
Reporter: What about your personal responsibility in relation to the failed ...
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: I have said this many times in this setting already, that our responsibility is to table this legislation that would be in the best interest of the public. Having gone through all the necessary procedures, having gone through all the consultation, and in fact there are some of these, during the process of consultation, some opinions have been expressed, we have actually amended some of these provisions and built into the bill. So we have gone through all the procedures and at the final stage some LegCo members, some of these pan-democratic camps, have tabled this last-minute amendment that upset the balance, and I think whose responsibility in this is very, very plain.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Friday, March 4, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:05
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