香港副局長和政治助理宣誓儀式日前已在政府總部舉行。12名副局長和14名政治助理在特首林鄭月娥見證下，一起舉起右手，並宣讀誓詞。副局長和政治助理宣誓擁護《基本法》和效忠香港特區。這是他們對其責任許下了莊嚴的承諾，向社會體現出他們對《基本法》和香港特區的忠誠和承擔，意義重大。常任秘書長及部門首長的宣誓儀式也將會舉行。
根據《基本法》，公務人員必須盡忠職守，對香港特別行政區政府負責。副局長和政治助理是政治委任官員，須遵行政府的決定並對此承擔集體責任。
除了政治委任官員，香港公務員事務局已於10月發出通告，要求所有在今年7月1日或之後加入特區政府的公務員宣誓或簽署聲明，作為聘用條件的一部分。
公務員事務局會在短期內，也會公佈要求現職公務員簽署聲明的具體安排。本來，根據香港《基本法》104條和《宣誓及聲明條例》，只有行政長官、主要官員、司法人員等人須在獲得委任後宣誓。一般的公務員入職後，只須遵守《公務員事務規例》和守則便可。但在去年反修例風波中，有被捕示威者為公務員，以及有公務員參與反政府集會，港府必須要求所有公職人員宣誓擁護《基本法》和效忠特區。
我們認為，區議員也是特區政府建制的一部份，參選區議會及接受區議員任命前，相關人士也應宣誓擁護《基本法》及效忠特區。
因此，政府應該修訂《區議會條例》及《宣誓及聲明條例》，取消違反誓言的區議員資格。港府應向立法會提交修訂《區議會條例》及《宣誓及聲明條例》，以完善市民參選區議員前及就任區議員時的宣誓安排，以及處理宣誓後因從事違反誓言的行為而須承擔的法律後果和相關的法定程序；並就宣誓的對象、內容、形式、細則、執行、管理及刑罰等進行本地立法，將生效的日期追溯至本屆區議會。在明年年初之前會要求所有區議員宣誓。
所有從政人士，必須擁護基本法，效忠特區政府，這些是底線和規矩，違反者就失去從事政府建制內工作的機會。
林沛瑩 測量師
香港建設專業聯會理事
香港建設專業聯會
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
<To the moon and back, Chinese R&D is leaving the US behind>
The writer, Matthew Slaughter, is dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
...... On the first morning of December, the Arecibo radio telescope of the US National Science Foundation in Puerto Rico collapsed. In seconds, the instrument’s 900-tonne constellation of radio receivers and girders crashed into the massive radio dish hundreds of feet below. Since its completion in 1963, Arecibo has been among the world’s most powerful radars. It anchored earth’s search for extraterrestrial life; its examination of the heavens contributed to foundational discoveries and Nobel Prizes. But there are no current plans for its rebuilding or replacement.
That same day, but on the moon, China landed a spacecraft. The Chang’e-5 spent two days gathering lunar dirt and rocks before planting and unfurling a Chinese flag, and then blasting off. On Sunday, it docked flawlessly in the moon’s orbit with its return-journey vehicle...
Once upon a time, the US government invested heavily in research. US federal R&D spending surged after the Soviets launched Sputnik, peaking in 1965 at 11.7 per cent of federal spending and at 2.2 per cent of gross domestic product. Frontier discoveries from that time led to the internet and GPS, the global navigation system.... In constant dollars, Nasa spending had fallen by more than half by the early 1970s; it has been flat ever since. By 2019, total federal R&D spend constituted just 2.8 per cent of all federal spending and just 0.6 per cent of GDP — the lowest in over 60 years.
Meanwhile, Chinese investment in research has surged. In launching its “Made in China 2025” plan five years ago, Beijing created more than 900 innovation funds that collectively planned nearly $350bn of new R&D investments. This year, the US National Science Foundation’s biennial review reported that from 2000 through 2017, Chinese R&D spending grew at an average annual rate of around 17 per cent. This left the US increasingly “seen globally as an important leader rather than the uncontested leader” with China “rapidly closing the innovation gap.” Indeed, an NSF official commented at a press briefing that preliminary 2019 data suggests that China has now surpassed the US in total R&D spending.
Great nations summon the will to invest in tomorrow even during their darkest todays. In the spring of 1862, the US Civil War was widening in scope and horror. Yet on May 5, Vermont senator Justin Smith Morrill reintroduced the Land-Grant Agricultural and Mechanical College Act.....
Amid the tragedy of the pandemic, the world’s two great economic superpowers continue to clash with each other in a trade war and other skirmishes. But last week, as the scientists of one nation mourned the collapse of one of its signature instruments, scientists of the other celebrated the prospect of discoveries soon to come. Will history view that moment as a harbinger? (End of essay )
The Last paragraph in Chinese：
在大疫情的悲劇中，世界兩個經濟超級大國繼續在貿易戰和其他方面相互衝突( I have to say it is the US who was the first one launching the attacks and had no grounds ) 。但上週，當其中一國的科學家為其標誌性儀器坍塌而哀傷時，另一國的科學家卻在歡慶展望不久將會到來的新發現。歷史地看來，這會不會是某種先兆？To me, definitely, that moment is a harbinger, and at this moment, Chang'e-5 returner has brought the lunar samples safely back to its motherland - the Earth...
S. L. LI Engineer
HKFDP
