The Preparatory Committee should act to protect press freedom, journalists say.
In a letter to the handover body yesterday, the Hong Kong Journalists' Association warned of the negative impact of keeping outdated colonial laws which threatened press freedom.
'We hope the committee will recognise the need to further amend the Official Secrets Act,' the letter said.
The committee was urged to reject suggestions by the defunct Preliminary Working Committee that draconian laws be reinstated.
The journalists intend to discuss today remarks made in Japan by the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Lu Ping, in which he said reporters could 'objectively report' issues but not 'advocate' causes.
Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang promised in New York that the Government would do all it could to protect press freedom.
