The appointment of the former secretary for commerce and economic development to a lucrative private-sector job has raised eyebrows. Frederick Ma Si-hang has every right to take the job. The time limit on ministers to accept such positions after quitting public service is one year. Ma left his post 17 months ago. He has not broken any rules.

However, his appointment as a non-executive director and chairman of China Strategic Holdings has highlighted the unequal rules on potential conflicts of interest for political appointees and top civil servants. Unlike political appointees, permanent secretaries have to seek permission from the Civil Service Bureau if they wish to take a private-sector job within three years of leaving the government. The argument for the different treatment is that it is already difficult to attract talent from the private sector. Among those targeted for positions as political appointees are company executives who are likely to have to take a pay cut - as Ma did when he joined the government from PCCW. If the restriction period is too long, it is argued, it will act as a further deterrent.

That position would hold water if more appointees had Ma's private-sector background. However, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and his top aides have increasingly turned the accountability system - under which appointees are hired - into a recruitment ground for trusted senior civil servants. For example, Ma's replacement in the government was Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, a permanent secretary for commerce and economic development and a civil servant for more than three decades. Likewise, the two newly appointed undersecretaries, Lai Tung-kwok (security) and Adeline Wong Ching-man (constitutional and mainland affairs) are career civil servants. This means civil servants, too, can sidestep the three-year restriction period by securing political appointments before they quit the government.