34
Reply:
Mr President,
There are no provisions under the Telecommunication Ordinance or the licences for the operation of paging services requiring paging service operators to obtain the consent and countersigning of the parents or guardians of persons under the age of 18 when they enter into rental or service contracts with such persons. The Telecommunications Authority is, however, aware of public concern about the use of pagers by minors and has recently issued a circular letter to all paging service operators seeking their co-operation to make it a requirement for any service contract they have with minors to be countersigned by their parents or guardians. The paging service operators are seriously considering the matter. Some major operators have already changed their policy to comply with our advice, while others already have such a policy in place.
End
Right of abode issue under discussion with Chinese side
Following is a question by the Hon James To Kun-sun and a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Peter Lai, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has passed a draft document clarifying how the PRC's Nationality Law would apply in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) from 1 July 1997. It is stated in the document that Hong Kong residents with foreign nationality may declare their foreign nationality to the relevant authorities of the SAR by producing valid documents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of its stance on such an arrangement and whether it has sought clarification from the Chinese officials concerned regarding the following:
(a)
whether returning Hong Kong residents with foreign nationality who do not declare their foreign nationality will be deemed to be Chinese nationals; if so, what the response of the Chinese officials is;