Chief Executive Donald Tsang says the Government will do its best to garner the Legislative Council Finance Committee’s support for the proposed bid for the 2023 Asian Games.
Speaking at today's question-and-answer session in the Legislative Council, he said Hong Kong can afford to host the games, adding the estimated cost is relatively small compared with the Government’s expenditure on welfare, education and culture.
Noting Hong Kong athletes have been seeing more success in recent years, Mr Tsang said spending on the construction of sport facilities has been rising, showing the Government’s commitment to sports promotion.
Although public support for the proposed bid has been fluctuating, the support rate of the 18 to 35 age-group has stayed at 60%, he said.
Hosting the games will set a clear goal and an accurate time-plan for sports development, he noted, adding the Government will do its best to persuade lawmakers to consider the issue from a long-term perspective.
Responding to reports criticising the Government's release of results on its poll on the proposed bid, Mr Tsang said the figures are accurate. The Government has not distorted the data or covered up certain information.
Transparent, open approach
The Home Affairs Bureau said it abided by the principles of openness and transparency when releasing information, adding in no way has it disclosed information selectively to “mislead the public”.
Noting the opinion survey was carried out by an independent and well-established local academic institution, and the government had provided background information to it for reference, the bureau said the independence of the survey should not be doubted because it has been commissioned by government.
The bureau commissioned the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the Chinese University to conduct an opinion survey to gauge public views on the bid. The survey ended at midnight December 1. Upon receipt of the preliminary report data in early December, the bureau released it on December 6. The numbers and percentages of respondents of both sides, in support of and against a bid, were included.
The bureau received the full survey report in late December. It has been the Government's plan to issue to the public and the Legislative Council a comprehensive compendium which includes the full survey report and all views collected from different consultative channels.
Given the tremendous time required to complete the compendium while taking into account legislators’ demand for an early release of the full survey report, the full report was submitted to LegCo’s Panel on Home Affairs on January 11.
The full report has also been uploaded to the bureau’s website.
