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Now the Government's position is in opposition to my private member's bills. This seems to be contradictory to what you are saying Mr Governor. It seems to me the Government is not interested in allowing Hong Kong workers these kind of rights.
Governor: Well, let me respond directly. The fact is that we don't agree with the honourable gentleman that the present state of the law which he wishes to change contravenes our obligations in the Bill of Rights and in the international covenants. We disagree on that point. I don't think we disagree about the importance of applying international covenants to Hong Kong.
Where we also disagree is in the approach which the honourable gentleman has taken to, not in every case, but in this case, has taken to labour legislation. The honourable gentleman knows because he's been a distinguished part of the process. That we've tended to legislate in the labour sphere on the basis of a consensus reached in the labour advisory board. I think what that has meant in Hong Kong is that there's been far less scrapping between employers and employees over legislation, far less here than exists in some other communities we're seeing in this region at the moment. Indeed the honourable gentleman I think has had first-hand experience of what's happening in this region at the moment where there isn't a consensus on labour legislation.
So I would prefer to proceed on that basis. Though I understand that the three issues which the honourable gentleman is talking about, two I think in one bill and the other in another, are matters about which he and his trade union colleague and his own trade union have felt strongly about for many years and have argued about both in Hong Kong and internationally for many years, and I'm sure will continue to do so. The honourable gentleman may well be able to get a consensus in the LAB on those matters, though I wouldn't advise him to hold his breath.
Mr Lee Cheuk-yan (in Chinese): Thank you Mr President. Well Mr Governor, probably you haven't read the ICSCR yourself. Maybe I'll refer you to that international covenant. It's not a question of how you implement the provisions. The fact remains that the provisions, the legislation is in contravention of these provisions. So I hope that you would review the legislation in the context of my bills. That would be in the interests of Hong Kong. It's not simply a question of interpretation. There is a blatant contravention there. Under the international covenant there is expressed provision about freedom to join the trade unions and also freedom of association and
so on.
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