A Hong Kong resident takes a photo of the national and HKSAR flags on display on the National Day on Oct 1, 2022. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)
HONG KONG – A delegation representing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will attend the meetings of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb 15-16.
As part of the Chinese delegation, the delegation will introduce to the Committee the part of China's third report under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which is related to the SAR, and answer the Committee's questions on the implementation of the ICESCR in the HKSAR, a government spokesman said in a statement on Friday.
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"This is the fourth time the Committee has examined a report submitted by the HKSAR under the ICESCR since 1997. The previous round of hearing was held in May 2014," the spokesman added.
The HKSAR government is firmly committed to upholding the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents as protected under the law.
Spokesman, HKSAR Govt
Permanent Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Gracie Foo will lead the delegation. It will include officials from the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the Security Bureau, the Education Bureau, the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Labour Department and the Immigration Department.
Stressing that the HKSAR government is firmly committed to upholding the rights and freedoms enjoyed by the city’s residents as protected under the law, the spokesman said since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, human rights in the city have always been robustly guaranteed constitutionally by both the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law.
Article 39 of the Basic Law provides that the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force, added the spokesman.
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"Since the last hearing, the HKSAR government has been taking extensive measures in various policy areas to promote the long-term economic, social and cultural developments in the light of Hong Kong's actual circumstances."