December 15, 2023
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government issued a proposal on Wednesday to update its code of conduct for its 170,000 civil servants, with emphasis on upholding national security and providing clearer requirements on political neutrality.
In announcing the new draft for the Civil Service Code (Draft for Consultation) on Wednesday, Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan, secretary for the Civil Service, said the current Civil Service Code has been in place since 2009.
As the community’s expectations and demands of civil servants are continuously evolving, an updated code is needed to spell out the core values and standards of conduct which current civil servants should uphold. The consultation period for the updated code ends on Jan 19.
Other values like dedication to duty, political neutrality, and commitment to the rule are also emphasized
The draft proposes 12 core values, with “upholding the constitutional order and national security” as the priority, Yeung said, adding that civil servants should wholeheartedly uphold the country’s sovereignty and its exercise of it over the SAR, and stay alert to acts or activities endangering national security.
Other values like dedication to duty, political neutrality, and commitment to the rule are also emphasized.
Yeung said civil servants still have space to express their views on policies, but they have to abide by the code of conduct.
For example, Yeung said, civil servants can’t criticize any government policies in their capacity as civil servants, and when they express views in a personal capacity, they should ensure that their opinions won’t be linked to their role in their official capacity.
The government will not initially request civil servants to hand over their private communications for investigation, but will take action against civil servants found to be in breach of the code, Yeung added.