Govt mulls requiring civil servants to swear allegiance to HKSAR

HONG KONG - A policy that will require civil servants to swear their allegiance in writing to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will be introduced in early October.

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen revealed the plan in an exclusive interview with China Daily on Thursday. The new rule will affect all civil servants recruited after July 1, 2020.

Arrangements to have current civil servants take a verbal oath of allegiance is still under discussion. No date has been set for that policy's implementation.

New appointees who violate their written declaration and serving civil servants who violate their oath could be fired in the most severe cases, Nip added.

The government submitted to the Legislative Council in July a proposal requiring civil servants to take an oath of allegiance. Before the proposal, more than 40 civil servants in the city had been arrested for their respective alleged roles in the anti-government protests in 2019.

In addition to having new recruits sign written declarations, the proposal also recommends having serving public servants take an oath of allegiance. Those who are recommended for promotion and who play a crucial role in the government's decision-making process will be priorities under this plan, according to the proposal.

Nip said the policy will help make civil servants more aware of their responsibility. It will also clarifies their duty to uphold the Basic Law and swearing allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR.

The civil servant chief said he believes the policy will not influence the future recruitment of public servants.

Nip also affirmed that the great majority of the city's nearly 180,000 civil servants are very dedicated and responsible to the government. "This could be seen and is apparent from the past six months of fighting the epidemic, and from the launch of the Universal Community Testing Programme," he said.