High-ranking officials take oath pledging allegiance to Hong Kong and Basic Law

The 12 undersecretaries and 14 political assistants become the first public officers to fulfil new requirement of expression of loyalty

Members of the civil service will sign a declaration stating the same pledges in the coming months

2-MIN READ2-MIN

The oath-taking ceremony overseen by Chief Executive Carrie Lam (centre). Photo: Handout

Published: 6:42pm, 16 Dec 2020Updated: 3:16am, 17 Dec 2020

More than two dozen high-ranking officials took oaths vowing to uphold Hong Kong’s mini-constitution on Wednesday, becoming the first batch of public officers to fulfil a new requirement to pledge allegiance to the city.

The 12 undersecretaries and 14 political assistants raised their right hands and together recited the oath standing in front of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor before a wall bearing the national and Hong Kong flags in a large venue at government headquarters at Tamar.

The ceremony at the government headquarters. Photo: Handout

They sang the national anthem shortly before making their pledge, as ministers sat at the back of the room and watched.

Undersecretary for the Environment Tse Chin-wan, the most senior official among them, led the oath, which was spoken in Cantonese, as opposed to the Mandarin Lam and her ministers used during their swearing-in ceremony in Beijing in 2017.

A government spokesman said it “is of great significance” that the undersecretaries and political assistants took the oath to uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).