A Hong Kong government minister yesterday dismissed fears that freedom of speech would be undermined by the Broadcasting Authority's warning to Commercial Radio.
Henry Tang Ying-yen, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, vowed that the row would have no impact on the broadcaster's application to renew its licence.But Mr Tang said the authority would not apologise or retract its warning as it has been made in accordance with its statutory power and followed established procedures.
'There is also wild conjecture that we are going to link the renewal of Commercial Radio's licence to this complaint ... such a link does not exist.
'There is [also] wild conjecture that the government is using the authority to influence freedom of speech. I would like to re-emphasise that we value freedom of expression very much as it is guaranteed under our laws. There is no intention of changing that.'
But Mr Tang said it would be unacceptable for the authority to apologise as it had done nothing wrong. He said the government had yet to decide if the station's licence would be renewed for 12 years, as it has been in the past.
