Beijing’s top office in Hong Kong ratchets up attack on Bar Association chief Paul Harris, denouncing him as an ‘anti-China politician’

Beijing’s top office in Hong Kong has ratcheted up its attack on the Bar Association chairman, denouncing him as an “anti-China politician” whose continuing tenure it warned would make a mockery of the legal body.

“How could such an anti-China politician as Paul Harris who has close connections with foreign countries fulfil the principles of safeguarding Hong Kong’s rule of law and the Basic Law and support the one country, two systems principle as previously stated by the Bar Association?” a spokesman for Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong said on Sunday.

“It makes a mockery of the Bar Association by condoning Paul Harris to continue chairing the group.”

The strongly worded statement targeted Harris’ latest remarks defending the right to peaceful protests after 10 people, including newspaper mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, were convicted for their roles in illegal assemblies on August 18 and 31 in 2019.

But the statement by the liaison office spokesman went further to question Harris’ loyalty to Hong Kong given his association with foreign organisations – a charge the senior barrister vigorously denied – and asked the Bar Association whether it wanted Harris to continue as chairman, urging it not to walk further down the path of politicisation or it risked going down an “abyss”.

The spokesman noted that the Bar Association was not only a professional body but also held statutory powers. These include the issuance of annual practising certificates to barristers and sitting on a committee that recommends judicial appointments. Given such statutory powers, its chairman should therefore uphold the principle of “patriots ruling Hong Kong”, the spokesman said.