Legco president Jasper Tsang says there are still too many questions and the government should reconsider plans to secure approval by July
OWEN.FUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Saturday, 11 June, 2016, 6:30pm
Legco president Jasper Tsang says lawmakers from different parties have reservations about the proposal. Photo: Sam Tsang
Lawmakers from across the political spectrum have questioned the government’s urgency in trying to secure HK$1 billion funding for the “One Belt, One Road” scholarship scheme before the end of the legislative year.
Speaking on RTHK on Saturday, Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing said while the scheme had many benefits, the government should not expect the legislature to approve it immediately.
“Since lawmakers from different parties have reservations about the proposal, the government should reconsider the urgency [to pass the proposal],” he said.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Friday that he hoped the legislature could pass the funding request as soon as possible.
The HK$1 billion would be used to finance exchange and further study programmes between Hong Kong and “One Belt, One Road” countries – an idea first put forward by Leung in his policy address in January.
The government now plans to add the proposal to the Finance Committee’s agenda before the legislative year ends in July – a move criticised by pan-democratic legislators.
Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen said he could not understand why the proposal needed to be passed so urgently.
He noted that by adding the scholarship proposal to the committee meeting agenda, the government would be going back on its agreement with lawmakers earlier to prioritise uncontroversial funding requests.
“If the government [changes the Finance Committee agenda], I think they owe the public an explanation,” he said.
People Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip warned that if the government added the item to the committee’s agenda, it would trigger “a wave of resistance”.
“I don’t think it can be passed before July because pan-democrats have many questions [about the scheme],” he said.
The original plan was to fund students from belt and road countries to study in Hong Kong only, but the government later suggested that part of the fund could be used to finance local students to study in belt and road countries as well.
Critics say the money would be better used to enhance the local education system.
Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative aims to boost economic and development ties with over 50 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1972830/dont-rush-one-belt-scholarship-scheme-funding-hong-kong
