Following are the remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting today (October 28):

Reporter: Good morning, Chief Executive. First, how do you see the LegCo (Legislative Council) breaking from tradition to call off the farewell motion and banquet and its implication on the future executive-legislative relationship? You mentioned the LegCo election (Legislative Council General Election). Do you expect a higher turnout rate than in 2021, following the Government's efforts to encourage residents to vote? And there are reports that the Government sent officials to Macao to study its experience with mobilisation for the LegCo election. What are the key takeaways for the visit? And second for the cargo plane crash last week. How would the Government do to ensure that the authorities can hold all relevant parties accountable and ensure the crew members stay in Hong Kong throughout the entire investigation process? Thank you.

Chief Executive: Legislative Council Members discussed among themselves to make arrangements to suit their best interest and also to accommodate their busy work. I respect that decision. I also fully appreciate why they made a decision about what they would do, and did it. The upcoming Legislative Council General Election is a very important election. It affects everybody because the Government's policies implementation will mostly have to go through LegCo through enacting laws or through LegCo funding. So it is important to ensure that we have the most appropriate LegCo Members serving the interests of Hong Kong. It affects everybody, and it is a civic responsibility for voters to vote. It is also a civic responsibility for everybody to promote the election so that such a significant event will take its course smoothly and attract the most attention and support from everybody. 

     The nomination period for the 2025 Legislative Council General Election began last Friday and so far, up to yesterday, already 50 candidates have reported their intention to run for the election. It will be a fierce competition, and candidates will have to compete by their election platforms, capabilities and performances, but it will be a healthy competition. The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission  has already made an appeal for everybody to take part in the election and cast their vote, and has also appealed to organisations and businesses to encourage their employees to vote and also to facilitate their employees when they have to vote during their day of work. The Government will do the same. The Government will, first of all, respond to the appeal by the Chairman, and I'll be writing to all civil servants to encourage them to act as an example, to exercise their civic responsibility to vote. It affects their daily work as well, because we work very closely with the Legislative Council on a daily basis. It is an important election and the whole Government will do our best to promote it, and appeal to everybody in society to do the same to promote it. It is an important duty for the Government. This is also a matter of great significance for everybody to participate in, to encourage others to take part. So it is a collective effort of Hong Kong, and the aim is to do it well in all aspects. 

     So the goal we set for ourselves is: do our best in all elements of the election, and we'll do our best to achieve that goal. We try to make this a successful election. That is why we look to the good practices of all places beyond us. In particular, Macao has recently done a very successful election, and we have been in good exchange with our colleagues in the Macao Special Administrative Region Government and what we are doing, in fact, reinforces the good experiences that we learnt from our Macao counterparts and also different parts of the world. In other words, we have to raise people's awareness, interest and understanding of the significance of the election, and then we'll do a full-scale mobilisation of not just the Government, but the whole of Hong Kong. We'll appeal to everybody to exercise our civic responsibility, appeal to everybody to vote, and appeal to organisations and businesses to encourage their staff to vote. It is a whole-city campaign. The candidates have to work well, and they will have to do their best, and they will have to display to the community, to their voters, that they are the appropriate candidates who should be elected to become a LegCo Member. So the candidates will have to work hard, the Government will work hard, and all of society should join forces to make sure this is a good success. We'll make that aim our efforts in the run-up to December 7.

     In respect of the incident in which a cargo plane ran into the sea, causing two deaths, I am deeply saddened by the passing away of the two security officers in the incident. I extend my deepest condolences, and express my profound sympathy to the families. I'm highly concerned about the incident and have instructed the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB) to co-ordinate and take expedited action. First, we will conduct a thorough and immediate investigation to find out the cause of the incident. If there are violations of the laws or regulations, we shall hold the responsible persons accountable. Second, provide full assistance to the families to help them go through the difficult time. And third, ensure all operations comply with international civil aviation safety standards, including airport operations, infrastructure and the safety of staff and passengers. 

     The TLB has been handling the incident fast, and they have immediately met with the Turkish authorities to convey our concerns about the incident and the wishes of the affected families, and co-ordinated with the cargo airline company, and various organisations and departments for quick response and follow-up management. The salvage work was completed last night, and the North Runway has reopened, and now the airport is running as usual. The Government is very concerned about the incident, and we share the family's hope to identify the cause of the accident as soon as possible. We have asked the Air Accident Investigation Authority to conduct an in-depth investigation expeditiously. The Authority is now conducting a comprehensive investigation with the scope covering areas such as crew qualifications, flight operations, aircraft systems, maintenance records and the weather. It will conduct an in-depth analysis of the two retrieved "black boxes" to find out the sequence of the event. Overseas experts will also participate to ensure a professional, objective and fact-based investigation. A preliminary investigation report is expected to be issued within a month. 

     Aircraft accident investigations are complex investigations involving aircraft designers, manufacturers, the relevant airlines and personnel, encompassing expertise, companies and individuals from different countries or regions. Based on past experience, the full investigation will take time, but I have already asked the Air Accident Investigation Authority to ascertain the cause of the incident as quickly as possible. The Government will provide sufficient resources, and all departments will offer their full support. The Police will continue their investigation. Laboratory tests confirmed that all crew members tested negative for alcohol and drugs. The Police will further study the findings of the Air Accident Investigation Authority’s inquiry to determine the direction of the police investigation. 

     Regarding the aircraft and crew involved, the crew members involved have been staying in Hong Kong since the incident. The Turkish authorities have pledged their commitments to co-ordinate with the cargo airline company and relevant personnel to co-operate with the related work and the investigation. Concurrently, the Turkish authorities have assisted in arranging for representatives of the involved airline company to meet with the affected families last Friday. The company expressed condolences to the families and indicated an ex gratia relief payment will be provided. We'll do our best to assist in the investigation, and our aim is to finish it as expeditiously as possible. Thank you.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Ends/Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Issued at HKT 13:50

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