Beijing scholar admits error and omissions in white paper on Hong Kong

A Beijing legal scholar acknowledged an "inaccuracy" and "omissions" in the English version of the white paper on Hong Kong, which many in the city have interpreted as a threat to judicial independence.

Wang Zhenmin, a former member of the Basic Law Committee, said the white paper issued by the State Council in June was not meant to affect judicial independence.

"Some contents have been omitted. In the Chinese version, it says the judiciary is independent by law, but this part is missing in the English version. The word 'independence' cannot be omitted," said Wang, who is also law dean at Tsinghua University.

The city's former chief justice, Andrew Li Kwok-nang, and his successor, Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, have previously expressed reservations about the view in the document on the "one country, two systems" formula that judges have a "basic political requirement" to love the country.

Li also said the use of the word "administrate" to describe judges' work was unfortunate as the judiciary is not part of the executive. He said the word in the Chinese version could be translated as "governance".

"There is a translation problem, an inaccuracy," noted Wang, who stressed that the white paper did not go beyond the Basic Law.