Beijing’s top man on Hong Kong affairs praises city’s rule of law and ‘fearless’ judges
- Xia Baolong also expresses support for common law system and independence of local courts after three overseas judges announce departure
Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has stressed the city’s rule of law was built and upheld by the collective efforts of the entire judiciary and legal community, including “fearless” and “impartial” judges.
Xia Baolong also expressed support for Hong Kong’s common law system and the independence of local courts on Thursday, as Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong condemned Jonathan Sumption, who resigned from the top court last week, accusing the British judge of smearing the city’s rule of law.
Xia, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, made the comments during a visit to the capital by Deputy Secretary Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan and his delegation, without mentioning the names of any judges.
The meeting came after three overseas non-permanent judges from Court of Final Appeal earlier announced their resignation or decision not to renew their term, with Sumption and Lawrence Collins citing the city’s political situation as reasons for their departure.
Xia said Hong Kong was one of the jurisdictions with the highest level of the rule of law globally, adding the central government firmly supported the city in maintaining the common law system, as well as in improving the judicial system and legal framework.
“The signature ‘rule of law’ in Hong Kong is built and upheld through the collective efforts of the entire judiciary and legal community, including judges at all levels,” Xia said.
“Judges in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have always been upholding the spirit of fearlessness, impartiality, selflessness and integrity, playing an important role in safeguarding the rule of law, fairness, justice and national security in Hong Kong.”
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Xia added they had demonstrated a resolute determination to defend the fundamental interests of both the country and the city, upholding the governing principle of “one country, two systems” and safeguarding the rule of law in Hong Kong. Their efforts deserved full recognition, he added.
“The central government will resolutely uphold the dignity of the rule of law and the judges in Hong Kong, firmly supporting the independent adjudication of Hong Kong courts in accordance with the law, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Hong Kong judges and judicial personnel,” Xia said.
The judiciary confirmed this week that Canadian judge Beverley McLachlin would retire from the top court when her term expired in July, days after Sumption and Collins said they would step down.
McLachlin, 80, cited her age and her wish to spend more time with family, while Collins, 83, said his resignation was due to the political situation in Hong Kong.
Sumption, 75, on Monday wrote an op-ed piece that argued the city’s rule of law was “profoundly compromised”, saying judges in the city had to “operate in an impossible political environment created by China”.
A spokesman for the central government’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong accused Sumption of a lack of professional ethics, saying he had lost his personal integrity.
He added any attempt to collude with political forces with evil intentions, fabricate fallacies and absurd theories, spread malicious rumours and incite unrest would only result in self-inflicted humiliation in the face of irrefutable truths and the authority of the rule of law.
Separately, the commissioner’s office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong on Thursday issued a strongly worded statement accusing British Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan, some American congressmen and MPs of Germany for their remarks supporting anti-China and Hong Kong forces, including wanted activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung.
“They openly accused the legitimate measures taken by the Hong Kong government to maintain national security, smeared the city’s rule of law and exonerated anti-China forces,” an office spokesman said.
“We expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to them,” the spokesman said, warning certain countries not to interfere in China’s internal affairs.
Law is among six fugitives living in Britain whose Hong Kong passports were cancelled by the city’s security chief – an unprecedented move under new powers granted by the city’s domestic national security law.
Trevelyan described the cancellation as a “regrettable decision”.
“It is unacceptable to use these kinds of legal measures to try and punish freedom of expression in the UK,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The spokesman stressed that the Hong Kong government had safeguarded national security in accordance with the law, while Law and other figures, whose conduct was “utterly illegal”, should not be treated as “democratic figures”.
Instead, they should be severely punished without leniency as they seriously endangered national security, damaged the fundamental interests of Hong Kong and undermined the bottom line of one country, two systems, he said.
