Former Police Deputy Commissioner Appointed Head of Civil Service College

The Hong Kong institution Is Feared to Become a Quasi CCP Cadre Training School

The Hong Kong government promoted a former police official to a key position to control the civil servants. Kwok Yam-shu, former police deputy commissioner, who retired in April, will be the inaugural Head of the Civil Service College. Yu Gang / The Epoch Times

The Hong Kong government has recently promoted another former police official to a key position to control the civil servants. Kwok Yam-shu, former police deputy commissioner, who retired in April 2022, will be the inaugural Head of the Civil Service College and will assume his duties on July 5. While the HK government and politicians praised Kwok’s management experience in the police force, some analysts believe that this appointment is a sign that the government will try to instill loyalty and compliance into the civil servants, who have been trained to uphold such values as political neutrality, professionalism, and performance.

On June 1, the Hong Kong government announced the appointment of Kwok as Head of the Civil Service College, following an open and internal recruitment process, with a monthly salary of HK$273,000 (US$35,000). Back in June 2021, when the government proposed the position for Legislative Council approval, it was already rumored that Kwok would be appointed to the post.

Kwok’s Wolf-Warrior Style Rhetoric: UK Is a ‘Thief’ and the US’s ‘Basic DNA Is Aggressive’

Kwok Yam-shu, aged 57, having served in the Hong Kong police for 31 years, starting as an inspector in 1990 and promoted to senior superintendent in 2007, chief superintendent in 2011, assistant commissioner in 2014, senior assistant commissioner in 2017, and deputy commissioner in 2019, had just retired in April, ahead of the appointment.

In an interview with Bloomberg’s Stephen Engle in the past year, Kwok talked about the Hong Kong National Security Law and other issues. He said that Hong Kong faced “perpetual” national security risks. “There are countries on earth whose basic DNA is aggressive.” He was talking about the United States. He also added that it was an “open secret” that the U.S. intends to “suppress the development of China.”

He compared the UK to a “thief” who has to return a stolen family heirloom but is unhappy when the owner decides to increase its security measures.

Dr. Wong Wai-kwok, former assistant professor of politics and international relations at Hong Kong Baptist University, said Hong Kong already has a “politically correct” atmosphere in which the more left-wing, radical, and extreme one’s speech, the more likely one may be appreciated by Lee Ka-chiu and Beijing’s liaison offices, and “lead to better positions and higher ranks.” He pointed out that when the government is filled by a group of people who are extreme in speech, thought and action, it is easy to make policy mistakes, leading to disastrous or unpredictable results.

Executive Leadership of Hong Kong Government Expected to Be Replaced

The establishment of the Civil Service College was proposed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam in her 2017 Policy Address and the college was set up in December in 2021. According to the Hong Kong government, the College will enhance the civil servants’ understanding of China’s Constitution, the HKSAR’s Basic Law, the Hong Kong National Security Law, as well as their knowledge of national affairs, which is considered “the top priority of civil service training”. As well, the College will strengthen its training programs, with more study tours and exchange activities held in mainland China.

When interviewed by Sarah Liang, reporter for the Chinese-language Epoch Times, senior banker Victor Ng Ming-tak commented that administrative officers (AOs) in the government were noticeably absent from Lee’s campaign advisory team, which comprised of a 90-member presidium and 58 consultants. “Not a single one was an (current) Administrative Officer (AO),“ he said, in Lee’s entire campaign team. He predicted that in the next 25 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would gradually replace the current executive tier of the government, i.e., more than 300 administrative officers, and that it would be Lee Ka-chiu’s top priority to replace the current rank with new mainland migrants to Hong Kong, who have the backing of Beijing and wouldn’t need to care Hong Kong people feel, when pushing their policies. ”It will be a very smooth run for them.”

Professor Wong Wai-Kwok: Police Must Follow Orders Whereas Civil Servants Need To Be Politically Neutral; The Two Are Fundamentally Different

Dr. Wong Wai-kwok also pointed out that this appointment meant government deliberately wants to influence the civil service through police or the law-enforcement sector. In the long run, he argued, having a former police taking any position in the government would weaken the power and influence of traditional civil servants and administrative officers.

According to Wong, the police force is about loyalty and carrying out orders, whereas civil service is about political neutrality, professionalism, and performance. Trainings are fundamentally different for the two. He said that it was wrong for Regina Yip, former Secretary for Security, to cite police management experience as Kwok’s strength for his new position. “Other than the fact that she was ignorant, she was obviously biased towards the disciplinary forces due to her background,” Wong said.

Wong also argued that civil service training is political training by nature. Under CCP dictatorship, Civil Service College would become “Party School,”  producing cadres who are “politically correct,” toe the party line, and implement the Party’s wishes.

According to current training regulations of the CCP’s National Civil Service Bureau, civil service training program must ensure that “the CCP is in control of the cadres.” Senior civil servants (county level or higher) are required to attend Party School every five years.