1. `China rule' rescue bid for Queen's Pier falters
MICHAEL NG, The Standard, 3 May 2007

Queen's Pier conservationists have suffered another setback after legislators rejected a non-binding motion urging the government to adopt a Chinese heritage principle in preserving the soon- to-be-demolished landmark.

The motion proposed by Civic Party barrister-legislator Alan Leong Kah-kit to preserve the pier in-situ and modify related work projects to avoid damaging its structures, was shot down by 16 votes to six, with two abstentions, in the functional constituency half of the Legislative Council, although it was passed by geographical constituency legislators with 14 votes to eight.

Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen Ming-yeung said conserving the pier was a must-do project for the government, and that was why it was seeking a HK$50 million initial funding from the council this month.

"We welcome different views as expressed on this matter, and this shows Hong Kong society can accommodate different opinions. We will adopt a fair and open attitude and hold consultations with all citizens, professional groups, the Legco, and district councils, before deciding where the pier is to be relocated," Suen said.

Restating that preserving the pier at its current site is technically infeasible, Suen said the government will carefully conserve the pier structure in storage for proper relocation in future.

Leong said the government should adopt the principles for the conservation of heritage sites in the mainland as its strategy in conserving the pier, rather than its present approach, by removing the pier structure but relocating it on the promenade in future.

"Although the SAR government lacks a set policy on heritage conservation, we hope it should at least adopt this set of principles and the mainland government's positive attitude in implementing related measures," Leong said.

"It's like when we hire a contractor to refurbish our flat and if we intend to change our decoration plans, we have to inform the contractor to make related adjustments. But in the Queen's Pier saga, the government just keeps sticking to its original plan and has raised a bunch of reasons in defense, but it's reluctant to respond to the public's calls to modify its proposal."

He hoped the public could stand tall and force the government to modify its relocation plan, allowing the pier and the settings of adjacent historical buildings to be preserved.

Liberal Party vice chairwoman Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee said even the mainland benchmark offered flexibility and did not firmly state that all ancient monuments must be conserved at the same location.

Cheung Hok-ming, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said it was pointless to preserve the pier at its current site as it would obstruct the road alignment of the Central-Wan Chai bypass project but agreed it should be relocated to preserve its setting.