Hong Kong had “no plans” to require social workers to swear allegiance to the government, the city’s labour and welfare minister has said after members of the industry’s licensing body took an oath under a new law.
Hong Kong had an “imminent” need to set up a mechanism to handle the registration of social workers convicted of national security offences and other serious crimes, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said in an interview with Ming Pao published on Friday.
The official’s remarks came two weeks after the city’s opposition-free legislature passed a bill that gave government appointees a majority on the Social Workers Registration Board. The amended Social Registration Ordinance also prohibited individuals convicted of offences related to national security from registering as a social worker.
The body’s newly appointed chief Herman Hui and other members took an oath last Friday to pledge allegiance to the government and swore to uphold the Basic Law.
Sun said in Friday’s interview that the government had “no plans” to extend the oath requirement to social workers outside the licensing body. He said he hoped that social workers could act in accordance with the law and enhance their professional development.
“The government never said social workers would have to take oath. We did not raise such a requirement, actually people do not have to think too much,” Ming Pao reported Sun as saying.
Eddie Tse, a registered social worker who protested against the overhaul of the licensing body, told HKFP on Friday that there were already enough “restrictions” under the new law to limit the work of social workers. Whether social workers would be required to take an oath was not a major concern for him, he said.
“The comments the minister made before regarding criminal records gave the public an impression that social workers commit crimes,” he said in Cantonese.
In May, the labour and welfare chief slammed the registration board for failing to establish a mechanism barring those convicted of national security offences from becoming registered social workers, even after an amendment was passed in July 2022 preventing such appointments.
The minister, who aired his criticism on Facebook, said the body had approved by a majority to appoint a social worker who faced a rioting charge onto a panel of reserve members for its disciplinary committee. The approval came despite “strong opposition from members of the board,” he said.
Sun was reportedly referring to Jackie Chen, who is facing a retrial after she was cleared of a rioting charge linked to a protest in August 2019. The retrial is set to begin in December.
Sun previously criticised the registration board for renewing the license of social workers with drug-related criminal records. When asked how the board may avoid barring rehabilitated convicts from becoming social workers, the official said the board would have to handle each case and strike a balance between public interest, registration needs and personal career development.
The minister was also asked by Ming Pao whether social workers who were found guilty of protest-related offences, such as unlawful assembly or rioting, would expect to lose their jobs. Sun said each registration application would be reviewed by the board.
“The minister should not intervene, because my job is to amend the law. After setting the main direction, each application should be handed back to the registration board for consideration,” he said.
He added that social workers doing advocacy work for underprivileged groups had “nothing to worry” about, as long as they were not engaging in anything illegal.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
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