Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned today that the government may cut ties with the city's Law Society – the way it did with the Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) – if it puts politics above professionalism.
Her comments followed similar warnings by the People's Daily, ahead of an election this month for five seats on the Law Society's council.
Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lam said there are many civic, professional and student groups in Hong Kong, but all of them should operate in accordance with their principles and the law.
“If we learn that they have deviated from their principles, for example… when politics hijacks or overrides a professional group’s professionalism, the SAR [special administrative region] government’s only stance is to stop our relationship with it,” Lam said.
“Earlier, the Education Bureau considered it necessary to sever ties with the Professional Teachers' Union. In future, if other professional groups, including the Law Society – which has been talked about a lot in recent days – puts politics above their legal profession, the SAR government will also consider cutting ties with it,” she warned.
She noted that the Law Society s empowered to recommend members for bodies like the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission and the government often consults it over important legal matters.
"Our relationship with the Law Society runs deep, since it is an important legal organisation in Hong Kong... But if it becomes a politicised body, we need to review these ties," Lam said.
Lam said the government has learned in the past two years that, without the protection of the national security law, Hong Kong could become a bridgehead to harm the SAR administration and national security.
The CE said the government had since realised the true nature of many groups that it was willing to interact with and respected in the past.
Lam, meanwhile, said it was very biased for foreign politicians or media to say the disbandment of the Civil Human Rights Front was the result of suppression from the authorities.
The disbandment of the front was “voluntary”, Lam said, and had nothing to do with freedoms in Hong Kong.
"For groups and individuals that had willfully touched the red line in the past, I think choosing to disband at this time is the only option," Lam said.
She also said any groups that violate the law will still face liability, even if they are dissolved.
The Law Society of Hong Kong is the professional association for solicitors in Hong Kong, established in 1907. The Hong Kong Bar Association is the equivalent association for barristers, founded in 1949, in Hong Kong. – RTHK, MPD
