Strategy on tobacco control requires careful balancing: Edward Leung

Tobacco control in Hong Kong requires care and caution, Legislative Council Member Edward Leung said on social media platforms.

Leung noted that Hong Kong's long-standing policy philosophy has been to regulate activities not recommended by the government, such as alcohol, gambling, cigars, and purchasing private cars, by levying a "special tax" and making good use of economic means, while still allowing those who have the need and are willing to bear the cost to have the room to make choices.

"Today's tobacco control efforts have overturned the past philosophy of governance, with an across-the-board ban on flavored cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated cigarettes, and hookahs, etc.," he said, "and I questioned whether such a paternalistic approach to governance was justified."

Leung said that the values on which Hong Kong's success has been based in the past are to enable the public to have the most diversified, tolerant and selective lifestyles, rather than banning across-the-board all activities that the government does not "like".

He believes that the administration should follow through on the tried-and-tested concept of tobacco control by increasing taxes in order to strike the best balance.

According to Leung, if Hong Kong can "overtake Britain and catch up with the United States" or "overtake Singapore" in terms of economy, he will of course strongly support the policy. "However, if Hong Kong becomes the world's most stringent tobacco control city in terms of lifestyle regulation, it may not be a good thing."

He believes that the authorities must strike a careful balance so that "pilot implementation" will not become "dead implementation".