Hong Kong lawmaker apologises to minister after dispute over same-sex bill

A politician who sits on Hong Kong’s top decision-making Executive Council has apologised to the city’s constitutional minister after slamming his “annoying” attempts to lobby support for a controversial same-sex partnership bill.

Legislator Stanley Ng Chau-pei, who is also president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), held out an olive branch on Friday, praising the minister’s “dedication” and “hard work” after earlier chiding the official for “threatening” him.

At the centre of the brouhaha was the Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill, which seeks to establish a framework for the recognition of such partnerships. If the bill is passed, same-sex partners registered locally will be granted rights related to medical and after-death matters.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai earlier said the government had an “ongoing legal duty” to fulfil its responsibilities related to same-sex relationships in response to a landmark ruling by the Court of Final Appeal two years ago.

The court granted the government until October this year to draw up laws setting out “core rights” for same-sex couples, but did not specify what they might be.

Major political groups, including the FTU, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong and the Liberal Party, have expressed their opposition to the bill. The New People’s Party endorsed the bill.