In the past year, social violence and COVID-19 epidemic have dealt a heavy blow to our home, Hong Kong. With the support of the civil service, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has overcome difficulties with perseverance and strengths. Through the united efforts of all of us, the epidemic is now showing signs of containment. However, Hong Kong people are still beset by reviving social violence. I believe it is the wish of most Hong Kong people to have a stable and prosperous Hong Kong again. To this end, we have to plug the legal loophole concerning national security in Hong Kong in order to ensure the robustness of “One Country, Two Systems”.
Hong Kong is now at a critical juncture. It is utterly important to establish and improve the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security from the national level. Hong Kong is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China. It is a local administrative region that comes directly under the Central People’s Government and enjoys a high degree of autonomy. National security is a matter under the purview of the Central Authorities. Safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests is the constitutional requirement of the HKSAR, the duty of the HKSAR Government, and is also in the interest of all Hong Kong residents. The legislation of national security law in Hong Kong will not weaken but instead strengthen “One Country, Two Systems” and help maintain the safety and stability of our community so as to make Hong Kong a safer and more stable city.
The HKSAR Government will fully support and cooperate with the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to complete the legislative work in order to discharge our responsibility of safeguarding national security. Civil servants are the backbone of the HKSAR Government. I expect that all of us will stand united, be committed to our duties and support and cooperate with the HKSAR Government in discharging its duty to safeguard national security.
While members of the public at this moment are longing for social stability and economic recovery, a civil service staff union is openly calling on civil servants to participate in a so-called “referendum on strike” for opposing the legislation of the national security law. Firstly, the Basic Law and the Hong Kong’s legal system do not provide for any “referendum” mechanism. Conducting any form of a so-called “referendum” will have no constitutional basis or legal effect. Further, Article 99 of the Basic Law stipulates that public servants must be dedicated to their duties and be responsible to the Government of the HKSAR. Moreover, according to the Civil Service Code, civil servants shall serve the Chief Executive and the Government of the day with total loyalty and to the best of their ability, no matter what their own political beliefs are. Civil servants have the responsibility to implement properly the work concerning the legislation of the national security law under the leadership of the Chief Executive, and should not oppose the legislation. Participating in the so called “referendum on strike” of a joint union action in the name of a civil service staff union will lead outside parties to mistakenly think that they are representing the majority of civil servants and that they are acting against the Government. This is extremely unfair to most of the civil servants who are dedicated and committed to their duties and will tarnish seriously the well-established reputation of the civil service.
I believe that colleagues will fully understand the constitutional duties of civil servants to fully support the Government and the community’s expectation of civil servants to maintain the stability of Hong Kong. Let us continue to stand united, and in solidarity, to discharge our mission and duty to safeguard national security in accordance with the law. We should, to our best of our ability, work for the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, so as not to fail to meet the expectations of the State and HKSAR.