Hong Kong Law Society election underscores tensions over China, legal system (updated)

Dexin China Holdings

24/08/2021 11:53

(Adds details in paragraphs 3 and 4)
    * Drumbeat of attacks on 'liberal' candidates in pro-Beijing
media
    * Candidate drops out, citing fears for family and safety
    * Electoral battle seen exposing tensions over city's rule
of law

    By James Pomfret
    HONG KONG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Law Society votes
for new governing council members on Tuesday, an annual event
made fraught this year by the city's national security law, with
pro-Beijing media accusing some candidates of political bias.
    The 12,000 member professional and regulatory body for the
Hong Kong legal sector has a watchdog role over legal changes,
and a say in the appointments of judges and lawyers who sit on
various government advisory bodies. The election on Tuesday is
for five of its governing council's 20 seats.
    Some of the city's leading lawyers, both locals and
expatriates, streamed into a large hall in a waterfront
convention centre to cast their ballots. 
    One, who declined to be named, said she was concerned about
the highly charged atmosphere of these elections but that it was
important to "vote according to my conscience" for candidates
who would stand up for the rule of law.
    The election has spawned lurid but non-specific accusations
against some candidates in pro-Beijing newspapers. One, Ta Kung
Pao, describes a "liberal" faction that will carry out "ulterior
political goals" if it wins a majority of seats.
    Another such newspaper, Wen Wei Po, called four of the
candidates "independence advocates" - a claim punishable under
the national security law. 
    Other major professional bodies have come under pressure
recently too, including Hong Kong's largest teachers union,
which disbanded this month after being attacked in pro-Beijing
media as a "poisonous tumour".
    Critics, including rights groups and the U.S. government,
say the legal system in the global financial hub is straining as
Beijing tightens control. The sweeping national security law
introduced a year ago outlaws foreign collusion, terrorism,
secession and subversion with possible life imprisonment.
    Law Society council candidate Selma Masood has faced a
barrage of negative coverage in pro-Beijing media since she
decided to run in mid-July, despite stressing her political
neutrality. 
    "There is an impressionable aura for many Hong Kongers that
the 'Rule of Law is dead'. I feel that is an extremely negative
way of putting it," Masood told Reuters.
    "I want to be the gatekeeper of the Rule of Law and I want
to cultivate respect for the independence of the legal
profession and the judiciary," added the Hong Kong-born senior
lawyer, who has actively campaigned for votes outside the city's
courts and at law firms over the past few weeks. 
    Another candidate, Jonathan Ross, withdrew from the poll at
the last minute, citing personal risks, saying it was a "sad day
for Hong Kong that an election for the council of our honourable
institution has sunk to this level".  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2PS069
    Ross declined to comment further.
    All society members can vote, and the results are expected
on Tuesday night.
            
    PRO-BEIJING MEDIA 
    In recent weeks the pressure from pro-Beijing media has
intensified.
    In early August, a cover story in Eastweek magazine featured
Ross and Masood along with Denis Brock, a partner at O'Melveny,
and Henry Wheare, a partner at Nixon Peabody CWL. It described
them as a "political" faction aligned with the pro-democracy
movement. 
    Ross and Masood have said such claims are untrue. Brock and
Wheare couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
    Two days later, on Aug. 14, the state-controlled People's
Daily warned the Law Society to not become like the Bar
Association, which has spoken out on contentious issues,
including the national security law and was described in the
article as a "scurrying rat".
    "If you draw a clear line against the anti-China and Hong
Kong elements, you will not lose the recognition of the
government ... and suddenly collapse," the paper wrote.
    The city's leader, Carrie Lam, on Aug. 17 warned that the
government might sever ties with the society if it became
politicised. 
   "The concern for me is that human rights law, free expression
... and truth are increasingly wrongly considered 'political',
and legitimate comment is lost in the black hole of sycophancy,"
said veteran human rights lawyer and incumbent law society
council member Mark Daly.
    China's top representative office in Hong Kong did not
respond to questions from Reuters.
    Since the People's Daily editorial, more than 30 articles,
columns and editorials in pro-Beijing media outlets, including
Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, have attacked the so-called
"liberal" camp, according to a tally by Reuters.
    Some of these outlets praised other candidates in a rival 
"professional" camp, including Justin Yuen, a member of the
CPPCC, a Chinese political consultative body; and Careen Wong,
who has ties to pro-Beijing politician Junius Ho.
    Yuen and Wong didn't respond to a request for comment.

 (Additional reporting by Anne Marie Roantree, Greg Torode and
Sara Cheng; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Catherine Evans)
 ((james.pomfret@thomsonreuters.com; +852-28436390; Reuters
Messaging: james.pomfret.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))