Hong Kong must build ‘reassuring’ environment amid political criticism: Paul Lam

Hong Kong must focus on the “practical work” of building a safe and convenient environment and reassurring the international community amid criticism of city’s legal system, the justice minister has said, after 10 countries issued a joint statement decrying the latest jail sentence on opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung.

“It is inevitable that their criticism will continue… Political realities have to be dealt with, but I do not think we should allow them to distract us from our focus,” Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok told a radio programme on Sunday.

“We must get practical work done, because concrete results are what will attract people to Hong Kong, to support us through action.”

Lam’s remarks followed a joint statement by 10 countries last Friday, including the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, France and Japan, which said that Wong’s jail sentence and the imprisonment of many others showed the city’s national security law was being used as a tool of political repression.

Wong was sentenced to 10 years in prison last Thursday for his role in a global campaign calling for sanctions against mainland China and Hong Kong in the wake of the 2019 anti-government protests.

The 30-year-old had been due to complete a sentence of four years and eight months for conspiracy to commit subversion by taking part in an unofficial 2020 primary election. His expected release date has now been pushed back to 2036.

In response, Lam said that, as an international city, Hong Kong would inevitably bear the brunt as China faced intensifying geopolitical tensions and rivalries.

While anticipating continued criticism from the West, he said the government would restate its position, stay resilient and reassure the international community by concentrating on “practical work” and building a safe environment.

“Truth will speak for itself. Just look at whether people are willing to come to Hong Kong to do business. Actions speak for themselves,” Lam said.

“I believe Hong Kong can continue to give people confidence and remain a convenient and reassuring environment… If you keep giving people confidence, they will naturally come.”

A government spokesman said on Saturday that the 10 countries’ statement “disregarded the facts, blatantly interfered with the exercise of judicial power and maliciously slandered the national security law”.

The justice minister also said the decision by the Asia-Pacific Liaison Office of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit) to set up a regional office in Hong Kong was a vote of confidence by the international community in the city’s legal system.

The opening ceremony for the new office, Unidroit’s first office outside its Rome headquarters, was held last week during the Department of Justice’s annual Legal Week event.

Lam said the establishment of the office was symbolically significant, reflecting Hong Kong’s key role in building a fairer, rules-based economic order that better represents the development of the Asia-Pacific region.

He said the government would support the office and help it deliver results, particularly by expanding its membership across the region.

“It can make full use of Hong Kong’s strengths. We have many friends, and we can act as a go-between to help them make connections,” he added.

Founded in 1926, Unidroit works to modernise, harmonise and coordinate private and commercial law across states and groups of states.

It has 65 member states and is one of the “three sisters” of international private law, alongside the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and The Hague Conference on Private International Law.