Hong Kong leader seeks to ease national security law concerns in dialogue with European business groups

More than 20 European business chambers took part in the online dialogue, with many worrying aloud about the impact of the law on the city’s future

Chief Executive Carrie Lam, however, insisted that businesses had nothing to fear from the legislation, while calling on the EU to stay out of the city’s internal affairs

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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam sought to play down concerns over the national security law in a dialogue with EU business groups on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:31pm, 5 Feb 2021Updated: 11:27pm, 5 Feb 2021

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has sought to dispel concerns from European business groups over what they characterised as the erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms and rule of law – while at the same time calling on the EU to keep its hands off of the city’s internal affairs.

In an online dialogue with more than 20 business chambers based in Europe and Hong Kong on Friday, Lam laid out the basis for continued bilateral ties between the EU and the city, calling for “mutual respect and non-interference into each other’s matters”.

The business chambers challenged Lam over the Beijing-imposed national security law, saying it had violated human rights, undermined the city’s much-vaunted legal system and tested EU-Hong Kong relations.

They also voiced concerns that companies’ CEOs could get into trouble under the law for criticising the Hong Kong government and its officials, a fear Lam sought to assuage.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam insisted the national security law would not curtail business leaders’ freedom of speech. Photo: Nora Tam

“I have to challenge that statement,” Lam said. “Those strengths and fundamentals of Hong Kong are still there: the freedoms, the rights enjoyed by individuals, the independence of judiciary, the transparency of the legal system, the accessibility to legal aid.”