CE Suggests 'culprit' Ted Hui Can't Be Trusted

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that if the freezing of bank accounts belonging to Ted Hui and his family has damaged confidence in Hong Kong's financial system, then it's the former lawmaker himself who is to blame.

Hui says that after he announced he was going into exile last week, several of the family's accounts were frozen, reactivated, and then frozen again, while police described the assets freeze as the "responsible thing to do".

But when asked whether such actions could have undermined confidence in Hong Kong's financial system, Lam said members of the public should take Hui's claims with a pinch of salt.

"I don't want to go into the details of the case, but I would just ask the public to understand what sort of a person we are dealing with now. This is somebody that lied to the courts of Hong Kong in order to seek a way to leave Hong Kong while under bail," she said.

"So I ask this question: is this individual a trustworthy individual that you should take his words on face value, and accuse Hong Kong financial institutions of doing things which are not in accordance with the law? If there's any damage to Hong Kong's financial institutions, the culprit is this individual," Lam said.

Lam then insisted that Hong Kong's monetary and finance systems are "as robust as ever".

The CE was also asked whether the government is targeting pro-democracy figures following the arrest on Tuesday of several activists and former lawmakers over a protest on July 1, as well as eight people on Monday over their alleged involvement in a graduation day protest at Chinese University last month.

"One mustn't think that we cannot do anything about somebody who is described as a 'pro-democracy activist' if he breaks the law," she said.

"As long as these people are called pro-democracy activists, it's as if they have a shield and law-enforcement agencies cannot touch them. This is against the spirit of the rule of law."