H.K. chief executive lectures on morals, media ethics

HONG KONG, Oct. 6 Kyodo Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa lectured on moral values and media ethics in his policy address delivered Wednesday.

Tung said a confrontational approach is not favored in Hong Kong and human rights should be balanced with social responsibilities.

"We seek protection of the rights of the individual, yet we should also fulfill our social responsibilities and obligations."

He called on the people of Hong Kong to carry forward Chinese traditional virtues such as filial piety, humanity, the importance attached to education and diligence.

"We favor consultation, not confrontation," Tung said in his 58-page annual address.

The chief executive also criticized the local media for giving excessive space to violence and pornography, and for sensational and sometimes incorrect news reports.

Although the government will continue to protect press freedom, Tung said "press freedom should not become a pretext for disregarding media ethics."

"There is strong public opinion that we should protect our younger generation from the undesirable influence of violence and pornography," Tung said.

It is "inexcusable for any media operator to resort to pornography, violence, libel or misrepresentation simply for profit," he said.

The government-appointed Law Reform Commission in August recommended the establishment of a press council to handle and rule on complaints against media intrusion on individual privacy, due to increasing public concern over how some local newspapers were reporting the news.

But the proposal sparked an outcry over government control of the press.

Tung said the government will await the outcome of the current public consultation on the issue, which he said he considers a matter of "prime public concern which deserves the government's due attention."

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