According to The Standard, Hong Kong’s Commerce Secretary Gregory So Kam- leung has ordered his staff to reinstate a statement indicating there is no limit to the number of FTA TV licenses to be granted – a statement which had been deleted from the official website in September 2013.
The Executive Council has thus far maintained silence, in accordance with its principle of confidentiality, over why HKTV was refused an FTA licence. This website update is seen by some as a justification of their silence, according to The Standard, which adds that Ricky Wong has threatened to “spill the beans” if the government continues to hide behind Executive Council rules.
In September 2013, during a website content update, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau deleted the sentence stating “there is no ceiling to the number of licenses to be granted, subject to physical or technological constraints” in an official document, reported The Standard. The Standard also quoted So as saying that the reinstatement of the sentence does not indicate any changes in government policies.
The report added that a spokeswoman for the bureau said it has been “updating its webpage content regularly to avoid content repetition across the website and to ensure provision of the latest data.” She added: “To allay any public concern, we have uploaded relevant topical information to the website again.”
According to The Standard, HKTV staff staged a protest outside the government’s Tamar headquarters wearing Halloween costumes on October 31, 2013.
The Standard, in a separate report, said that an appeal on Facebook for people to switch off their sets during prime time on October 30, 2013, in support of Wong’s fight, drew mixed responses, with some switching off their TVs, but others, such as restaurant owners, leaving their sets on.
