Civil servant’s walkout over motion condemning Hong Kong police chief at district council meeting prompts official complaint from pro-democracy group
- Politicians contact Ombudsman after district officer Susanne Wong quit meeting in protest
- Earlier civil servant’s boss said she did nothing wrong in leaving alongside Commissioner of Police Chris Tang
A group of pro-democracy politicians filed an official complaint on Friday against a district officer who walked out when councillors were handling a motion condemning the city’s police chief, accusing her of violating the political neutrality of the civil service.
The move, which signals a widening rift between the administration and the opposition, was prompted by the actions of Susanne Wong Ho Wing-sze, the district officer of the Central and Western district, who walked out of Thursday’s meeting alongside the Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung.
During a discussion on police conduct during anti-government protests, Tang was grilled by predominantly pro-democracy council members. The police chief left alongside other officials after council chairwoman Cheng Lai-king began reading out an impromptu motion that accused Tang of condoning what she claimed was “police violence”.
But Wong’s actions were defended by her boss, the Secretary for Civil Service Joshua Law Chi-kong, who said he believed she had not done anything wrong.
Wong, who was leading more than 10 officials from eight other government departments, walked out and said the government did not agree with the motion – which was later passed – because it was not based on facts.