Hong Kong – Hong Kong said on Friday that it had the constitutional responsibility to implement the Law of the People’s Republic of China on National Anthem locally.
According to a spokesman for China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, in implementing the national anthem law by local legislation, the government has given full consideration to Hong Kong’s common law system and actual circumstances.
The spokesman said the main spirit of the National Anthem Bill is respect, which bears absolutely no relations to restricting freedom of speech as claimed by certain members of the community.
The spokesman added that the government has listened to views from 190 members of the public and representatives of various organisations and met with different political parties, professional groups, and representatives from the legal sector.
The spokesman said even the academia was not left out during the drafting of the bill.
The spokesman said further that HKSAR government promised to introduce the bill to the Legislative Council for resuming the second reading debate at an appropriate time.
(Xinhua/NAN)