Sensible debate on GST essential, says Henry Tang
The financial secretary has told legislators who have vowed to bury the proposed goods and services tax to get their heads out of the sand.
Henry Tang Ying-yen reiterated that the consultation on the GST would not be curtailed or scrapped.
'Frankly, we think this would be an irresponsible act by the government, as well as by community leaders, including some legislators who would rather bury their heads in the sand without attempting to take part in a sensible debate on the matter,' Mr Tang said in a letter to the media.
He was responding to a call by Liberal Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun who, in columns published in several newspapers yesterday, called for an immediate halt to the nine-month consultation.
In a column in the South China Morning Post, Mr Tien said it was the financial secretary's duty not to introduce a GST because the Basic Law said the government should keep its expenditure within revenue limits, rather than spending first and then seeking revenue.
