Starry Lee urges Hong Kong officials to respect lawmakers’ dissent amid pushback

Hong Kong Legislative Council president Starry Lee Wai-king has urged officials to respect lawmakers’ dissenting views amid a recent rise in government pushback, stressing that public policies “always have pros and cons”.Speaking at a media gathering on Tuesday, Lee said she had relayed lawmakers’ concerns to the government regarding officials’ recent rebuttals. She described the relationship between the executive and legislative branches as an ongoing process requiring mutual respect from both sides, while exploring ways to move forward in response to new circumstances.Her remarks came after several recent incidents in which government officials publicly rebuked lawmakers. These included the Department of Health criticising legislator Chris Ip Ngo-tung, without naming him, for raising concerns about the ban on alternative smoking products, accusing him of “spreading false information and misleading the public and visitors” in April.