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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the remarks made to the media by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, after the Fight Crime Committee meeting this (November 19) morning:
Secretary for Security: The Fight Crime Committee has convened its meeting this morning. We have reviewed the crime trend of the first 10 months of this year. I am glad to report that the crime figures continued to drop as compared with the same period last year. The overall crime figure dropped by as much as 4.9 per cent. The number of violent crime also remained steady. The types of crimes that have recorded a decrease included robbery, burglary, theft and serious drug offences. Of course, there are also certain increases in crimes like criminal intimidation, serious assault and some indecent assault cases. The number of juvenile (and young) offenders, I am glad to report, has a drop by as much as over 10 per cent. The number of visitors committing crime in Hong Kong also recorded a slight decrease. So, overall the law and order situation in Hong Kong is rather stable. Hong Kong remains a very safe city. For the WTO, I have to report that our Police have made every preparation to provide a secure environment for the WTO MC6 meeting to be held in Hong Kong and we have every confidence that the meeting will be held in Hong Kong successfully.
Reporter: There is a rise in criminal intimidation and criminal damage cases. Do you worry that there will be a rising trend on the issue in view of next month's WTO MC6 meeting?
Secretary for Security: There is a certain increase in the number of criminal intimidation cases. The Police have done a research. The result was that over 50 per cent of these cases related to disputes -- personal disputes and commercial disputes. And those relating to triad activities remained at a very low percentage. There was also indication that the increasing trend is flattening out. And we hope that in the coming two or three months, the number of these cases will decrease.
Reporter: How about criminal damage?
Secretary for Security: Criminal damage is also some logical consequence of criminal intimidation that people after making a threat have done something stupid in damaging properties or even assaulting the victim. The figure also indicated that the increasing trend is flattening out. So we hope that by the year-end, we will have a lesser increase in percentage. I must emphasize that the increase of this kind of crime in Hong Kong has nothing to do with the WTO meeting.
Reporter: Do you think that there might be an increase of such cases because of the meeting next month?
Secretary for Security: No, I don't think so.
Reporter: Could you elaborate because people are worried that foreign protesters might cause criminal damage to Hong Kong people's properties next month? Can you anticipate the numbers?
Security for Security: We have always said that Hong Kong is a very liberal and free community. We respect the basic rights and freedoms of our citizens as well as our visitors. During the WTO meeting, we hope that these demonstrators, whether local or overseas, will respect the local laws and regulations and also respect the very good tradition of our demonstrators. We all know we have hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marching through Hong Kong streets before and there is virtually no damage to any property or no violent acts. So, I must reiterate that we welcome demonstrators demonstrating in Hong Kong in a peaceful and orderly manner. But Hong Kong people as well as Hong Kong Government will not tolerate any violent act damaging our properties and wounding any citizen or any person in Hong Kong.
Reporter: Are you optimistic that the crime figures will remain low for the next month during the WTO conference?
Secretary for Security: I am confident.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, November 19, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:54
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