Pan Shiyi, chairman and co-founder of the property company Soho China, is one of the mainland's liveliest businessmen and an obsessive user. Yesterday he regaled a humdrum Asian Financial Forum with his views on the best way to combat corruption on the mainland. Several years ago, he discovered a piece of land in Beijing was unfairly awarded to a bidder where there was collusion between the winning bidder and the tenderer of the land. He complained on and this was reported by the press. Two days later, a man from Hong Kong phoned him with the warning: "If you continue to tweet about this, I will chop your legs off." Pan complained to the mainland police, who protected him. Pan, who still has his legs, said: "If China does not censor the media, corruption will decrease. Transparency will resolve corruption. I have faith China can resolve its corruption problem because of the internet.
Chief Executive C.Y. Leung has been urged to take a tough line with tobacco control measures in his policy address tomorrow. The letter is signed by senior public health academics from HKU and Chinese University, well-known anti-smoking lobbyist Judith Mackay, the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health and Clear the Air. The signatories ask for measures to reduce smoking prevalence in Hong Kong to 5 per cent before 2022 compared with the current 11 per cent. Hong Kong would then be recognised as a non-smoking territory by the World Health Organisation. The signatories argue this will require raising excise tax to at least 80 per cent of the retail price, which they say is proven to prevent youth smoking while reducing adult smoking, premature deaths and health care costs. In addition, the government should provide more assistance for those that want to quit. The letter points out that cigarettes are considerably cheaper in Hong Kong than in many other territories, including Singapore, Britain, New York, Australia and France. They also want tougher steps taken against smuggling and the sale of duty-free cigarettes. The signatories suggest all public areas should be tobacco-free, including the entire outdoor areas of restaurants and pubs, whether 50 per cent roofed or otherwise. They also recommend that preventing smoking should be a condition of liquor licences. They note that at present many licensees allow or encourage smoking in order to steal custom from premises that obey the law.
