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HK police force nears 'localisation' goal with exit of expat officer

When Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Mike Dowie retired recently it left the force with no expatriates in its senior management ranks, which were once dominated by overseas officers.

It is part of a pattern across the civil service, where the number of non-local officers has fallen 70 per cent - from 877 to 282 - since 1997, a continuation of the localisation process that began long before the handover.

At the most senior level, the proportion of overseas officers in directorate ranks has shrunk from 55 per cent in the 1980s to little more than 3 per cent last year. Natural attrition and language obstacles for new recruits are set to trim the number further, with the last overseas officer in the police force - the largest department - set to retire in 2027.

Political analysts differ in their view of how it will effect the government, with some saying diversity is desirable in an international city.

'A certain amount of expatriate directorate-rank officers in government can make public administration more diverse and pluralistic,' James Sung Lap-kung, a political analyst at City University, said. But Chinese University analyst Professor Ma Ngok saw no big difference.

'Society wants more direct responses from officials, and obviously local officers are more suitable for this development,' Ma said.

In the police, the core decision-making posts at headquarters - the seven senior assistant commissioners of police - are now all filled by local officers.

Assistant Commissioner Austin Kerrigan is the highest-ranked non-Chinese officer in the force.

Police stopped overseas recruitment in the early 1990s and the remaining expatriate staff say they have seen a change in management style.

'In Western culture, staff point out mistakes to provide constructive opinion. Constructive criticism was viewed as positive before, but now it is taken as negative,' David Williams, chairman of the Overseas Inspectors' Association, said.

In the civil service overall, there were 216 directorate-grade non-local officers - 16.4 per cent of the total - in 1998. Last year there were just 39, or 3.2 per cent.

The few non-local officers heading bureaus and departments include Director of Intellectual Property Stephen Selby, Marine Department head Roger Tupper and Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Duncan Pescod.

Under Basic Law Article 101, the government is allowed to employ British and other foreign nationals as advisers to government departments or to fill professional and technical posts. But there is a catch: all civil service grades are required to be proficient in spoken and written Chinese and English for permanent civil service jobs. This rules out even many overseas Chinese who may speak Chinese but not read or write it.

The chairman of the Senior Government Officers' Association, So Ping-chi, said only overseas experts on contract terms were exempt from the Chinese-language test.

'Overseas-born Chinese also face difficulties in applying for permanent government jobs as they also have trouble with the written part of the Chinese test,' he added.

Sung said Hong Kong was no longer attractive for expatriates to work as civil servants - even if they could get jobs.

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