Hong Kong’s new civil service chief faces daunting challenge of pleasing Beijing while boosting staff morale, experts say

Patrick Nip takes over a bureau deeply shaken by the involvement of tens of thousands of employees in the extradition bill protests

Although the city’s leader denies the secretary has a political agenda, he will nevertheless be forced to make tough calls about issues dividing the central government and employees

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Patrick Nip, the new minister in charge of the Civil Service Bureau. Felix Wong

Published: 7:00am, 23 Apr 2020Updated: 11:18am, 23 Apr 2020

The new minister in charge of Hong Kong’s 180,000 civil servants will have to walk a fine line between addressing an emerging political activism within the ranks while ensuring the loyalty and morale of staff during one of the most turbulent chapters in the city’s history, according to analysts and union leaders.

The decision by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to name Patrick Nip Tak-kuen as the chief was controversial, given he is the first political appointee to lead the bureau. The deviation from the traditional practice has sparked concern among senior public servants whether the new minister would speak up for their rights.

Lam said the force needed better national education but denied there was an agenda behind the move. Experts and a civil service union, however, say the reshuffle points to Beijing’s deep unhappiness over staff taking part in anti-government protests that erupted last summer.

“We have an excellent civil service team, but if you asked any of the new ministers, he would say there could be room for improvement, including training and understanding on national education, as well as overseas exchanges,” Lam said as she introduced the five newly appointed secretaries on Wednesday. “There’s no agenda behind the appointment.”

Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the new civil service chief secretary, Patrick Nip (second left), along with the other new appointees, meet the press on Wednesday. Photo: AP

The bureau became a focus of attention during the stand-off between the administration and millions of residents over a now-withdrawn proposal for an extradition bill that would have laid out the framework for transferring suspects to the Chinese mainland, among other jurisdictions.

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