Hong Kong’s John Lee ‘strongly’ condemns US bill to sanction 49 city officials, says bid to intimidate judges contradicts American constitution
- Proposed legislation an obvious attempt to intimidate judges and prosecutors, Chief Executive John Lee says
- Justice minister Paul Lam, who is named in bill, calls Hong Kong Sanctions Act ‘malicious’
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has “strongly” condemned a bill proposed by US lawmakers seeking to impose sanctions on city officials and judges, saying the attempt to intimidate judicial officers contradicts the principles espoused by the country’s own constitution.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok on Saturday described the Hong Kong Sanctions Act as “malicious” and emphasised that the city’s legal community would not bow to what he called “irrational intimidation”.
Introduced in the US Congress earlier this week, the bipartisan bid by lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate is calling on US President Joe Biden’s administration to impose sanctions on 49 city officials, judges and prosecutors over “human rights violations” under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Lam, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung and four other justices, 17 judges, six magistrates, numerous prosecutors and a private lawyer working for the Department of Justice as a prosecutor were among those named in the document.
Lee said he was confident that the judges named in the bill would continue to perform their duties fearlessly and try cases impartially, adding the proposed legislation was an obvious attempt at intimidating judicial officers, as well as seeking to influence the impartial hearings and adjudication of court cases.
“Their obstruction of justice not only violates the rule of law, but also violates judicial independence that the US claims is guaranteed in their own constitution,” he told reporters at Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday, before leading a trade delegation to Shanghai.
“These despicable and shameless behaviours reflect the hypocrisy and barbarity of these politicians that have sinister intentions. I once again condemn them in the strongest possible terms.”
Speaking on a radio programme, justice minister Lam said the city would not run away from the “bullying” of US politicians, pointing to the chorus of criticism against the bill from the Hong Kong government, judiciary and legal professional groups on Friday.
“What we want is for every person and every case to receive a fair trial in the court,” he said.
“For this to work, we need judges who are able to perform their duties in a safe environment. They are actually destroying the system when they make these threats.
“This is actually contrary to what they themselves [claim to] admire. The extent of their double standards is certainly shocking.”
Lam in particular lamented the “irrational” inclusion of a private barrister on the list, saying he feared it could take longer to clear a backlog of trials related to the 2019 anti-government protests if such lawyers became reluctant to act as prosecutors.
“Everyone, including us, is hoping that these cases can be tried and handled as soon as possible,” he said. “The prerequisite is that there are enough people to participate in the judicial process.”
If the bill is passed, the US president would have to decide within 180 days whether to impose sanctions in accordance with existing laws.
Experts have suggested that the proposal is unlikely to have any impact on the coming meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ meeting in San Francisco this month.
The bill also came after the Hong Kong government revealed on Tuesday that US-sanctioned Lee would not attend the Apec meeting due to “scheduling issues”.
Lee on Saturday did not elaborate on the scheduling conflict, but he pointed out that the city’s financial chief in 2012 had also taken part in the Apec leaders’ meeting that same year, and several economies were also represented by lower-ranking officials in last year’s summit hosted in Bangkok.
The city leader was heading to Shanghai for a three-day trip over the weekend to attend the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo, where more than 300 Hong Kong firms will be taking part.
