Civil Servants Have To Take Oath Or Be Told To Leave

About 180,000 civil servants in Hong Kong will have to face losing their jobs if they refuse to take an oath of allegiance to the Basic Law and the SAR, the Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip confirmed on Saturday.

Speaking on a radio programme, the minister said it's a "basic responsibility" for public servants to make a promise and uphold the Basic Law and be responsible to the SAR government.

"Refusing to take an oath or sign a declaration... give people serious doubts that the relevant officers don't accept or disagree such basic requirement", he said.

"If that's the case, that is not in line with the basic requirement for the public servants in performing their duties."

He added that he doesn't think the relevant officers would still be suitable to work as a public servant, if they fail to publicly confirm such a requirement.

The Bureau would then consider asking the relevant public officers to leave, using existing management mechanisms, he added.

Nip added the decision comes after consulting the Department of Justice, despite him having earlier claimed that civil servants who refuse to sign would only risk losing their promotion opportunities.

The minister believes that most civil servants will not need to face the issue, adding that this declaration will also help to give the public more confidence in civil servants.

As for those who're willing to sign but might breach the oath, Nip stressed that freedom of speech has been fully protected in Hong Kong and authorities will have to look into individual cases about the possible penalties after looking into whether the breach is illegal or against civil service rules.