HK police action beyond reproach: China Daily editorial

Hong Kong Watch co-founder Benedict Rogers and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have wasted no time in conducting their usual China-bashing after Hong Kong police arrested some incumbent and former lawmakers on Sunday and Monday.

Pompeo claimed it was a "clear abuse of law enforcement for political purposes".

The European External Action Service, the European Union's diplomatic service, has also issued a statement in response to the law enforcement action, saying the "EU will closely follow the treatment of these cases by the authorities".

Like anyone else, EU officials have the right to do so. But the suggestion that it is doing so because the "impartiality of justice as a key principle of the rule of law" might not be respected reveals its true intention, which is to cast aspersions on the legal process in the special administrative region.

The lawmakers and a legislative aide were arrested on charges of contempt and interference with legislature officers after they disrupted a May 8 committee meeting. Under Hong Kong's Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, both offenses allow for a maximum fine of HK$10,000 (US$1,290) and imprisonment of up to 12 months.

The fact that they are current and former lawmakers does not exempt them from the legal punishment. Like any other alleged offenders, they must be subject to due legal process and bear any legal liability for any illegal acts they are found guilty of.

Hong Kong's rule of law is rightly held in high regard. In the 2020 Rule of Law Index released earlier this year by the US-based non-profit organization World Justice Project, Hong Kong is ranked 16th out of 128 jurisdictions for its overall rule of law performance, higher than Spain (19th), France (20th), the US (21st) and Italy (27th), and is ranked 11th in terms of civil justice.

It is an insult to the Hong Kong judiciary for US and EU officials to lecture them on the rule of law.

As Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal of the HKSAR, said on Monday in his remarks at the opening of Hong Kong Legal Week 2020, the role and functions of the judiciary are clearly set out in the Basic Law of Hong Kong, and the SAR enjoys independent judicial power and the judges' vows also reflect the independence of the judiciary.

Those trying to besmirch the integrity of the SAR's judicial system are doing so as a means to smear the national security law implemented in Hong Kong.

But as Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, chief executive of the HKSAR, said in her opening speech for the annual flagship event of the Department of Justice, the law has restored social stability and the public's perception of the rule of law, which had been undermined by the months of violent social unrest that had roiled the SAR.

Those attempting to politicize the law enforcement action only reveal the extent to which they are willing to go in their attempts to discredit China.