SJ, STH and S for S on co-location arrangement at West Kowloon Station of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link
******************************************************************************************
Reporter: Mr Chan, can you explain to us how can the co-location plan be connected with national security? And also in terms of the co-operation agreement, when can we expect the details to come out?
Secretary for Justice: Maybe I answer the second part of your question first. The "Three-step Process" that we have put forward concerns the signing of, at the first stage, the Co-operation Agreement (should be Co-operation Arrangement) between the Mainland and the Hong Kong side. As I said earlier, we would endeavor to finish the first and second steps by the end of this year. The issue that you have been raising in your question just now is the disclosure of the Co-operation Agreement (should be Co-operation Arrangement). As and when the Arrangement to be signed, certainly we would consider how to disclose the contents of the Co-operation Arrangement. However, the Co-operation Arrangement is yet to be approved or endorsed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. So we would have to consider how best to deal with the disclosure of the contents. Maybe I handover to Mr Chan to deal with the first part of the question.
Secretary for Transport and Housing: For any cross-border (should be boundary) railway operation you know, safety and security is important. Not only for the network of the rail, but also for both sides. So, safety and security is applicable to both Hong Kong and the Mainland.
Secretary for Justice: Since this question concerns the issue of security, perhaps on top of Mr Chan, if I may invite Mr Lee to deal with it as well.
The Secretary for Security: The express rail network is a network which will involve passengers of both sides. They will be either going in or out of the port area. The Hong Kong law enforcement officers will have to pay attention to the security issues. Likewise, Mainland authorities will also have this need. When we talk about the security of the network, we are talking about the security of the whole system, which involves of course the Hong Kong side, and of course the Mainland side. And the whole design is to ensure the safety of all passengers, and this includes the Hong Kong passengers, and Mainland passengers.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Issued at HKT 19:50
Issued at HKT 19:50
NNNN