Letters | Hong Kong government should adopt ‘first, do no harm’ principle

The reassignment of a senior police officer – who was investigated for visiting an unlicensed massage parlour – from the national security unit to the training department is the latest in series of events that has baffled many Hongkongers

Hong Kong police

Letters

Published: 7:30am, 11 Aug 2021

Why you can trust SCMP

“The future is certain; it’s only the past that is unpredictable.” This popular joke in the former Soviet Union referenced the regime’s habit of re-editing and revising books to suit the whims of those in power.

Echoes of this policy were discernible in Hong Kong when it was reported that local schools were reviewing their libraries to remove books, the contents of which could be held to violate the national security law. On their potential hit list was George Orwell’s 1945 satire Animal Farm.

What could be seen as a simple precautionary measure is, in a wider context beginning with the announcement of the proposed extradition bill in 2019, a testimony to the total lack of political common sense at all levels of the Hong Kong government.

The absence of this skill, vital for any government, manifests in a pattern of behaviour marked by a stubborn insistence that the government knows best, followed by an undignified capitulation, and a timorous approach when second-guessing Beijing’s wishes.

In February 2019, the proposed extradition bill was announced, igniting protests that descended into rioting. In June, a rattled but stubborn government announced the bill had been “suspended”. Further rioting, which the government seemed incapable of controlling, resulted in the bill’s withdrawal in October. Throughout, the government lacked any coherent policy or messaging.

The most recent example of a decision that has prompted astonishment and anger concerns Frederic Choi Chin-pang, the No 2 officer in the police’s national security department, who despite being discovered by fellow officers in Viet Spa, an unlicensed massage parlour, has been appointed the head of the discipline and training department. Not just bad comedy, a farce.

These issues prompt the question of what the role of a competent Hong Kong government should be in the context of major changes to political structures and the imposition of the national security law.

The first requirement is the ancient medical tenet: “First, do no harm”. In a governmental context, this means don’t make moves such as appointing Choi to head discipline and training. It wins no respect from the Hong Kong people and, probably, not much from Beijing.

Don’t mislead people. Avoid making major promises you cannot deliver, such as that the national security law will only affect a small number of people.

Last, be coherent. Introduce and deliver significant policies and promote Hong Kong values. But to do that requires the respect of both Beijing and the people of Hong Kong.

David Hall, Mid-Levels