Patten Slams Critics, Denies Attacking Rule Of Law

Hong Kong's last governor Chirs Patten has hit back at accusations that he has attacked the city’s rule of law, denying that he questioned the recent jail term handed down to localist Edward Leung for rioting.

But in a sharply worded statement, the former governor also said he would have taken the barbs more seriously "if they came from someone who had criticised the abduction of people in Hong Kong by Beijing security officials".

Patten said attacking people for what they have not said – rather than the real arguments – "could be taken as a sign of both sharp rhetorical practice and of a very weak case".

Pro-democracy figures had criticised Leung's six-year prison sentence for his role in the 2016 Mong Kok riot, saying it was too harsh. Chief Executive Carrie Lam then accused individuals of "harming" the judiciary with their comments.

Soon after Leung's sentencing, the London-based Hong Kong Watch group had issued a statement by Patten in which he slammed the use of the Public Order Ordinance against the political opposition.

In Tuesday's statement, Patten said he did not criticise the sentence, "but the existence and use in this case of a Public Order Ordinance which is a direct contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Hong Kong government is allegedly committed under the Basic Law".

He pointed out that the colonial government amended the ordinance before the 1997 handover, but the SAR government scrapped the changes.

"I would take lectures on the rule of law more seriously if they came from someone who had criticised the abduction of people in Hong Kong by Beijing security officials in flagrant breach of the law and of Hong Kong’s autonomy," Patten wrote, referring to the apparent kidnapping of five Hong Kong booksellers in 2015.

He added that if there is no nervousness about a squeeze on Hong Kong's autonomy, "why do so many of Hong Kong’s most respected older and younger residents tell a different story".

Lord Patten said the SAR government should act and speak clearly to demonstrate "its often avowed intention of securing Hong Kong as a hub for the Rule of Law in Asia".

A few days after Leung's sentencing, executive councillor Ronny Tong on RTHK's "Letter to Hong Kong" criticised Patten for his comments.

Tong wrote that the young activist was tried and convicted by a jury and that what Patten had said was "nothing but a travesty of the facts".