Remarks by CE at media session before ExCo (with video)
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Reporter: Two questions. First, can you first confirm whether three people, including a student, a former District Councillor and a volunteer, have been arrested for sedition, and if so, what did they do that was seditious? My second question is, over the past few years, you have spoken about leading Hong Kong from chaos to order and from order to prosperity, and yet this prosperous society allowed 151 people to burn to death. Can you tell us why you deserve to keep your job?
Chief Executive: Criminals who commit offences must be taken to justice. When law enforcement agencies discover crimes, whatever their natures are, they must be dealt with in accordance with the law. Whoever they are, whatever their background is, if their acts contravene the law, law enforcement agencies must take action, and they have a duty to do so. I emphasise, I will not tolerate any crimes, particularly crimes that exploit the tragedy that we are facing now. Everybody in Hong Kong society is uniting to help those who suffer to continue their living and face up to the future. To anybody who dares to sabotage this attempt - this commitment of society - we will do anything we can to ensure that justice will be done.
Yes, it is a tragedy; it is a big fire. Yes, we need a reform. Yes, we have identified failures in different stages. That is exactly why we must act seriously to ensure that all these loopholes are plugged so that those who are responsible will be accountable, the shortcomings will be addressed, the bottlenecks will be addressed, and we will reform the whole building renovation system to ensure that such things will not happen again.
Nobody, of course, wants a fire to happen. We will do our best; it has been the effort of the Government, of everybody in society, of everybody involved in this area to do their best. Fires happen in different cities, despite different cities' governments and communities having tried their best. We will do our best to prevent it, but it is exactly what the Government must do now to ensure that some system failures, which may have been accumulating over years, are addressed. We need to strengthen the system. We need to reform it. We need to ensure vested interests will not be allowed to be a factor that causes this tragedy.
There are a number of factors, and I have explained to you the different areas that we must tackle and the different issues that we have identified. We will work on each one of them - not a single one of them, but each and every one of them - and we are willing to listen to more views or opinions about what they have discovered. This will be included in the investigation and also included in the review to be conducted.
I just want to assure you of one other thing. This is a time for everybody to unite for a good purpose, but for anybody who tries to sabotage the commitment of society, I will do all I can to ensure justice is done.
Reporter: Good morning, Mr Lee. First, can you detail more in English in terms of what is the way forward for the investigations into the fire in Tai Po? And secondly, how is the Government going to ensure that all the funds and public donations and every resource that the Government has received or the public has given would actually reach those affected and help them, including, say, foreign domestic helpers. Thank you.
Chief Executive: For investigations into this fire, there is quite a number of investigations. Because we are to ensure that justice is done, we want to ensure that we will prevent such a tragedy from happening again. So first of all, there's a serious investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire and why it developed at such a high speed, causing such serious deaths and injuries. That is being conducted by a professional team led by the Fire Services Department with law enforcement agencies, particularly the Police.
There is also an investigation into those who have been ascertained at this level to be accountable. These include 13 people arrested by the Police for suspected manslaughter, and also 12 people arrested by the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) for corrupt practices which relate to this tragedy. Both investigations reveal that the responsible culprits tried to mix up substandard nets with qualified nets so as to cheat inspection and law enforcement agencies. The modus operandi of criminals change every day. They are evil. They are cunning.
But I thank the law enforcement agencies for doing all they can to overcome these challenges and keep digging, leaving no stone unturned. So I urge this joint investigation by the Police and the ICAC to proceed as fast as possible, so that those responsible should be charged in court as soon as possible. And I also want them to investigate, to see whether there will be other people involved in any related capacity, so that anybody who should be held accountable should be held accountable, and justice is seen to be done, so they will let the dead rest in peace, let society see that justice is done.
I have identified a large number of areas where issues should be addressed, because this tragic fire reflects significant lapses in the building works from construction to supervision with multiple points of failure, and we must implement systemic reform, and the issues identified include:
First, the safety requirements, standards, supervision and routine maintenance systems for building maintenance works;
Second, systemic issues in the construction process, such as inappropriate connected interests, conflicts of roles and corrupt collusion;
Third, establishing an up-to-date list of materials for which safety standards are properly set, their review and updating, the required verification and testing systems;
Fourth, examining the roles and responsibilities of regulatory personnel across all stages of the project chain, including government departments and authorised professionals;
Fifth, issues of corruption, bid-rigging and irregular tendering in building maintenance projects;
Sixth, the supervision and responsibility for the installation and effective operation of fire safety systems in buildings;
Seventh, accountability related to the above areas, in the fire in Tai Po;
Eighth, the adequacy, or otherwise, of legislation and penalties.
I call for a thorough investigation and serious reform. We will overcome the obstacles of vested interests, pursue accountability regardless of who he or she is. We must uncover the truth, ensure that justice is served, let the deceased rest in peace and provide comfort to the living.
Therefore, while criminal and fire investigations are proceeding continuously, I will establish an independent committee to conduct a comprehensive and in-depth review to reform the building works system and prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future. To ensure the committee's independence and credibility, I will invite a judge to lead its work. I shall liaise with him to define its detailed terms of reference, and at the same time, I will explore ways to assist in supporting the committee's operational efficiency such that the Government can provide more detailed information or carry out some work on its direction so as to enable it to complete its task efficiently and submit a report early to the Chief Executive with recommendations to assist the Government to make the reform.
Regarding all the donations, I must thank everybody, all the donors, for their kindness, sincerity and commitment to help us, to help Hong Kong as a whole, to help, particularly, those who suffered in this fire to recover their lives and also to ensure that they will continue to look ahead and live their lives. We'll ensure all the resources are well put on them to ensure they will live through this difficult time and also recover their new lives. We will, of course, publish clearly the account of the use of money, but there will be a lot of work that we need to do. We'll continue to talk to the victims, the families and those affected, to listen to their wishes and wants to see how we can help to ensure that they can continue to live a normal life. I sincerely urge and request every one of us to unite to help them, to unite to make the reform, to unite to take those responsible to justice, and also to create a common will to make Hong Kong a better home for everybody. Thank you.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)
Ends/Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:40
Issued at HKT 15:40
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Audio / Video
CE meets the media