Despite the resignation of two UK judges from Hong Kong’s top court, the city’s almost 180-year common law tradition and principle of legal system transparency cannot be so easily uprooted. Hong Kong’s global ranking on the rule of law is close to the UK’s and has changed little since 2015.

Article 43 of the Basic Law provides that the chief executive shall be accountable to the central government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. These two obligations do not sit well together in the mind of some people.