CE 'betrayed HK' Over Liaison Office Row: Opposition

Pan-democratic legislators on Sunday accused the Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, of ‘betraying’ the people of Hong Kong by apparently siding with Beijing’s liaison office on its contention that it is not subject to restrictions laid out under Article 22 of the Basic Law.

The article prohibits central government departments from interfering in local affairs that are under the jurisdiction of the local administration, but the liaison office, along with the SAR government, now appear to suggest that it doesn’t apply to several key organisations – including the liaison office, and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

The liaison office had said on Friday that it is not a government department directly referred to in Article 22, while the Hong Kong government said in a series of apparently-self-contradictory statements on Saturday through to Sunday that the office was not set up by a central government department, but by the Central People’s Government itself.

Its original statement had said the office is one of three organisations set up by the central authorities in the HKSAR in accordance with Article 22(2) of the Basic Law. A subsequent correction removed any reference to Article 22, and the final release stressed that the office had not been set up by a central government department as specified under the article.

Twenty-two lawmakers issued a statement condemning the SAR government’s statements, saying the reversal of its position is a “total capitulation”, and a “blind adherence” to the office’s attempt to “pass a deer off as a horse.”

“Carrie Lam not only violated the Basic Law, but also abandoned her will to govern Hong Kong along with her dignity. This is truly an insult, and a betrayal of the 7.5 million people of Hong Kong”, the statement said.

The lawmakers further accused the liaison office of deliberately distorting the Basic Law, to “place itself above the law without any legal justification.”

This, they said, was an attempt to justify their 'interference' in internal Hong Kong matters which damages the rule of law, and treats both common sense and the mini-constitution as “nothing”.

The opposition also said the government had previously stated on multiple occasions that Article 22 does apply to the liaison office – in documents to Legco, its official gazette and a statement in 2018 by mainland affairs minister Patrick Nip.