Watchdog’s departure does not mean Teresa Cheng should have resigned over illegal structures, Carrie Lam says
Observers say Huen Wong’s resignation suggests benchmark that justice secretary did not live up to. City leader calls that ‘unnecessary association’
The resignation of a communications regulator over undeclared shares in a phone company does not mean Hong Kong’s embattled justice secretary should have quit over illegal structures at her home, the city’s leader said on Tuesday.
Her remarks came as a survey showed Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah’s popularity was lower than for any justice secretary in 17 years.
Lam on Tuesday rejected the idea that Wong’s departure indicated Cheng should have resigned too. She said: “I received [Wong’s] resignation last Friday, understood the circumstances and respected his decision. But I think the case is not entirely the same as the case with the secretary for justice.
“There is no need for such unnecessary association.”
Too devoted to public service to forget private business? Lam says it’s possible in defence of Cheng
She said she was open to strengthening the systems for declaring interests if necessary. Civil servants, she said, should take the initiative in future by reminding members joining the authority to take a good look at their assets, due to the sensitivity of broadcasting policies. The authority, which is now looking for a new chairman, regulates broadcasting and telecoms in the city.
Wong, a former president of the Law Society, resigned on Friday with immediate effect.
He said his “inadvertent” omission had not affected the authority’s work and had not caused any conflict of interest, but that it was incumbent upon him to follow the rules.
Civic Party legislator Tanya Chan praised Wong’s “responsible” decision, saying it was in line with the expectation Hongkongers have of officials, and stood in stark contrast to Cheng’s lack of a resignation.
A survey by the University of Hong Kong’s public opinion programme found Cheng’s support rating stood at 34.1 marks out of 100, with an approval rate of 19 per cent and disapproval rate of 48 per cent. It polled 1,001 Hongkongers between February 1 and 6.
Both her rating and her net approval rate – the difference between the approval rate and disapproval rate, which stood at -29 percentage points – were at record lows for justice secretaries since the polls began in 2001. Cheng’s performance could be rated “mediocre”, according to the pollsters’ standards.
