Lawmakers round on government's planned new technology bureau

The Leung Chun-ying administration's plan to establish a technology bureau could again be jeopardised by a filibuster, while lawmakers of all stripes have questioned its proposed structure.

League of Social Democrats chairman "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung vowed to block its funding in protest at the government's handling of the HKTV affair.

And at a meeting of the Legislative Council's panel on information technology and broadcasting yesterday, members from across the political spectrum argued that CreateHK, the government department which promotes the development of creative industries, should be moved from the existing Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) to the proposed innovation and technology bureau.

Members of the New People's Party, the Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong all favoured the new bureau overseeing creative industries. The Intellectual Property Department should also be housed under the new bureau, the New People's Party and the Business and Professionals Alliance suggested.

The government wants both departments to remain under the CEDB, while the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Innovation and Technology Commission would be moved to the new bureau.

Leung said he would filibuster the government's application for funding approval of HK$30 million for the bureau in protest at the refusal to grant a free television licence to Ricky Wong Wai-kay's Hong Kong Television Network, a decision within the CEDB's purview.