Hong Kong authorities are going to dismiss from public service about 200 employees who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the basic law. This was reported on Tuesday by the South China Morning Post, citing Secretary (Minister) for Civil Servants, Patrick Nip.
Since October last year, the mandatory oath procedure has covered all 180 thousand civil servants in this special administrative region of the PRC. However, 200 people for some reason refused to sign the corresponding declaration.
“If civil servants refuse to sign a document on the acceptance and fulfillment of basic duties, we will lose faith in them. They will have to leave the civil service,” the minister stressed. He noted that the authorities will try to understand the reasons for the refusal in each specific case.
It is known that some minor civil servants in Hong Kong supported the mass protests that took place here in 2019, and some even participated in the demonstrations themselves.