A CALL for urgent measures to regulate human cloning is unlikely to be heeded, even though a senior government official has admitted embryos could be duplicated in Hong Kong. The United States announced this month that a scientist had split human embryos, but the Hong Kong Government insisted yesterday it would maintain the cautious approach that has seen little progress in six years. Visiting Canadian lawyer and activist Maureen McTeer, who is expected to meet Health and Welfare Branch officials today, said the developments in America made action on cloning urgent. Ms McTeer said after addressing the Canadian Chamber of Commerce yesterday that the ethical implications of the breakthrough should not be overlooked. ''This is one of the most important issues to face us this century. It raises questions about our identity and what it is to be human,'' she said. She called for human cloning regulations and wide public discussion about ethics and morality for women, unborn children and minority groups. Ms McTeer has been invited to comment on the Hong Kong Government's consultation paper on scientifically-assisted human reproduction released in March. The Principal Assistant Secretary for Health and Welfare, Derek Gould, admitted that human beings could easily be cloned in Hong Kong. But he said the Government had no plans to speed up its agenda to introduce controls. Mr Gould said the Government was discussing regulation of human cloning, ''but if anything, we will err on the side of conservatism''. Legislator Dr Leong Che-hung, who chaired the committee which produced Hong Kong's consultation paper, backed the call for faster action.
