(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Chief Executive John Lee said today that Hong Kong will strengthen efforts on all fronts, including co-operating with relevant countries, to rescue Hong Kong people being detained in Southeast Asian countries.

Mr Lee made the remarks before attending the Executive Council meeting this morning, explaining that the Government’s efforts to secure the safe return of 10 Hong Kong citizens who are still being detained in Southeast Asian countries will focus on four areas.

“First, is a full and thorough investigation together with enforcement.

“Second, to enhance co-operation with our partners. There are a lot of players in the whole fight against this crime, including the law enforcement agencies in the relevant countries.

“The third thing we will do is to ensure that we will have the right outbound travel alert for Hong Kong citizens. So we have recently raised the outbound travel alert for the south-eastern regions of Myanmar to red. And also, we have regularly added new information on the Security Bureau’s webpage regarding those areas where this crime is serious and also the new modus operandi.

“The fourth area is to continue to strengthen publicity and education so as to alert innocent Hong Kong people of the seriousness of this crime, and also to ensure that they get updated information.”