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Governor: Those are important issues that we must look at but can I just say one thing to the honourable lady about information. I think one reason why awareness of the number of fatalities was so limited earlier in the evening was that nobody had provided anything like accurate estimates of those who were missing. It was only, I think, very late that the full figures for those who were missing were brought to our attention.
Another difficulty with accuracy of information is the one I mentioned in my statement the problems of identification of very badly burnt bodies. But we must learn from our experiences in, of course, the hope that we do not need to deal with these things again but in human society that, alas, is very rarely the case.
Dr Yeung Sum (in Chinese): Thank you, Mr President. Just now a number of Members asked about the fire incident and of course the community is very concerned about it. But now I'd like to change subject.
I want to talk about the performance of the police. Recently there were two incidents. Firstly, I'd like to ask the Governor this; is there a policy that in future when people go to protest at the Japanese Consulate, be they reporters or any members of the public, that it will be limited to a group of 20? If that's the case, would it not stand in the way of reporters covering the incident?
And the second incident; recently there were about 20/30 protesters outside the Convention and Exhibition Centre, but the police actually deployed some 300/400 officers to the scene. I want to know if the Chinese Government ever made a formal request to you to take such a precaution?
And secondly, would you not think that in the whole incident the police over- reacted, because the police actually charged into the crowd leading to some commotion?
Governor: I'd like to take those two points separately and dwell a little longer on the second of them, making as I do so, one or two points which I hope the Council and some outside the Council will take to heart over the coming months, which may be occasionally difficult.
The first question, the Japanese Consulate. Police officers responsible for protecting the Consulate must decide how best to carry out their duties, having regard to the circumstances in the building, for example what's happening there, the physical constraints imposed by the building and the mood of those who are seeking, for instance, to petition in the building. They can't be entirely unmindful of what's happened in that building in the past.