Govt Defends Promotion Of Ex-FEHD Chief

The Civil Service Secretary, Patrick Nip, has defended the promotion of a former director of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) who was the target of an attack by a top pro-Beijing newspaper.

Vivian Lau was named the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health last week.

In an article over the weekend, Ta Kung Pao alleged that during her tenure as FEHD chief, Lau had adopted double standards towards the posting of banners and messages across the city during the unrest in 2019, allowing anti-government ones to remain while removing swiftly those in support of the administration.

When asked about Lau's appointment in a press conference on Monday, the Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip said the promotion of civil servants has an established mechanism and criteria, with a panel picking the best candidate.

Nip added that with some senior postings, he himself would offer his assessment of the appointment.

He also pointed out that permanent secretaries – like all civil servants – have already signed an oath to pledge allegiance to the SAR and the Basic Law.