Patrick Nip takes over a bureau deeply shaken by the involvement of tens of thousands of employees in the extradition bill protests.
Although the city’s leader denies the secretary has a political agenda, he will nevertheless be forced to make tough calls about issues dividing the central government and employees.

The new minister in charge of Hong Kong’s 180,000 civil servants will have to walk a fine line between
– addressing an emerging political activism within the ranks,
– while ensuring the loyalty and morale of staff during one of the most turbulent chapters in the city’s history, according to analysts and union leaders.

The decision by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to name Patrick Nip Tak-kuen as the chief was controversial, given he is the first political appointee to lead the bureau. The deviation from the traditional practice has sparked concern among senior public servants whether the new minister would speak up for their rights.
Carrie Lam said the force needed better national education but denied there was an agenda behind the move. Experts and a civil service union, however, say the reshuffle points to Beijing’s deep unhappiness over staff taking part in anti-government protests that erupted last summer.
“We have an excellent civil service team, but if you asked any of the new ministers, he would say there could be room for improvement, including training and understanding on national education, as well as overseas exchanges,” Carrie Lam said as she introduced the five newly appointed secretaries on Wednesday. “There’s no agenda behind the appointment.”

The bureau became a focus of attention during the stand-off between the administration and millions of residents over a now-withdrawn proposal for an extradition bill that would have laid out the framework for transferring suspects to the Chinese mainland, among other jurisdictions.
Tens of thousands of civil servants joined the demonstrations, despite senior leaders warning they should remain neutral, and the tensions led to staff forming a union, which now has more than 3,000 members.

So far, 42 employees have been suspended after being arrested for taking part in the protests, despite the presumption of innocence, and legal proceedings are under way, according to the bureau.

Song Sio-chong, professor of Shenzhen University’s Centre for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macau, said Nip’s portfolio was critical as the central government had grown increasingly worried over staff involvement in the movement.
The bureau has long been regarded as one of the most valuable legacies of British colonial rule, a body of professional, efficient government elites. But in the eyes of Beijing, that dedication has taken on a new meaning, according to Song.
“Loyalty of the civil service remains a key issue,” he said. “Yes, Beijing has long been saying Hong Kong shall be governed by Hongkongers who love the city and the country, but how to reconcile the loyalty when Hong Kong’s local interest is perceived as not aligned with the national interests? All these problems need to be resolved.”

Chinese University political scientist Dr Ma Ngok said Nip would have to decide how to carefully approach civil servants who supported the protests, while still meeting Beijing’s expectations.
“In the past, the civil service chief could just focus on the salaries and promotions of the team,” Ma Ngok said. “But now the situation is getting more political, thus a more politically sensitive person would be needed, especially when the public would keep an eye on Nip, who seems to be a more moderate person, on how he would deal with the problems.”

There are also concerns the appointment tests the framework of accountability. According to a paper issued by the Legislative Council in 2002, the secretary for the civil service would be chosen from within the ranks to ensure the person fully understood the system and the employees. As the minister is an executive councillor, he is expected to protect their interests as the cabinet advises the leader on big policy decisions.

Carrie Lam noted Patrick Nip was a bureau veteran with more than 30 years’ experience before he joined her cabinet as a political appointee in 2017. She met all permanent secretaries on Wednesday 22 morning to reassure them he would continue uphold the character of the civil service.
“In terms of the spirit of the design of the political accountability system, which is to find somebody who is very familiar with the civil service and knows the core values and the integrity of the civil service in order to discharge his role and function, I’m very confident and I hope my senior civil servants are likewise very confident that Patrick Nip will be able to do a very good job,” she said.
“There should be no worry about the so-called other political mission given to Patrick or his own aspirations.”
Every principal official in his position, according to Carrie Lam, must “serve faithfully the interest of Hong Kong and to ensure the comprehensive and accurate implementation of one country and two systems”.

But she did not explain why Patrick Nip’s predecessor Joshua Law Chi-kong could not fulfil his role, only saying her decisions were aimed at “moving forward”.
Patrick Nip, seen as one of Carrie Lam’s trusted ministers, said he was grateful for the nomination and he intended to ensure “dedicated” civil servants continued to serve with political neutrality, and in a professional and diligent manner.

Leung Chau-ting, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Civil Service Unions, said the sudden appointment of a “non-civil servant” as the chief, against the established practice, would lead bureau employees to believe Patrick Nip had a “political mission”.
“Currently, our colleagues are allowed to express their political views when they are not at work,” Leung said. “We hope the new chief could be as transparent as he can, so that we know what changes he would like to make.”

But Michael Ngan Mo-chau, chairman of the Union for New Civil Servants that was formed during the protest and seen as an opposition force, said the body hoped the new chief could reboot morale.
“The civil servants were torn between the government and the public for the last year, and we are under low morale,” Ngan said. “We also want to reiterate that we have the rights to participate in political activities, including forming unions, thus we are not worried about any punishments.”

Executive councillor Wong Kwok-kin suspected the central government was unhappy with civil servants taking part in the demonstrations.
“Moving Patrick Nip to this post could mean she expected reforms in the civil service,” Wong said. “The previous secretaries for civil service were all very conservative, more on safeguarding interests of civil servants.”
Wong Kwok-kin said Patrick Nip was expected to reinforce discipline, especially in the area of political allegiance, for all government employees, noting an increasing number of cases of leaked files in recent years.
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Links
[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3080822/top-hong-kong-official-loses-job-cabinet-reshuffle-amid
[2] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3078151/42-hong-kong-civil-servants-suspended-over-protest-arrests
[3] https://www.scmp.com/topics/hong-kong-protests
[4] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3044457/civil-servants-union-locked-war-words-hong-kong-government
[5] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3044457/civil-servants-union-locked-war-words-hong-kong-government