Overseas judges leaving top Hong Kong court ‘only natural': ex-justice chief
Advertisement
Elsie Leung Oi-sie, the first secretary for justice after Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, when the
judges joined the court , also said on Monday that the city should look into cultivating judicial talent locally to reduce reliance on outsiders.
Leung, who previously served as a deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, also urged Hong Kong legislators to improve their standards, noting that many 'political novices' of varying levels of ability had emerged following Beijing's 'patriots-only' electoral overhaul.
She was speaking at a legal forum in Beijing organised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which centred on the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong nearly five years ago in the wake of months of anti-government protests.
Former Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung says judicial turnover is 'perfectly normal', Photo: Dickson Lee
Leung accused some foreign forces of smearing Hong Kong's judicial system by targeting the national security law as well as its domestic counterpart, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, enacted in March last year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
All talk, no paper: Japan's US tariff deal hits a snag
One of the biggest sources of domestic criticism has been the absence of a joint text on the agreement, observers say. While Ishiba has touted the trade deal reached last month as benefiting both nations, he also acknowledged on Monday that the real challenge would be in its implementation. 'Some say that carrying the trade deal out is harder than agreeing on it. I humbly seek your continued support on this,' he told a parliamentary session. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Monday. Photo: AFP The agreement, reached just before an August 1 deadline and after intense negotiations, has been credited with averting a potential trade crisis for Japan.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
For the US, it's Mountain Pass – or fail – in bid to supplant China's rare earth supremacy
Rare earths are needed for everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles, wind turbines and fighter jets – and China controls the supply chain. In the second of a four-part series, we look at how China gradually took a commanding role in the rare earth industry, and how the US is now working to strengthen its sources and production. Advertisement Nearly a half-century removed from being the world's dominant supplier of rare earth elements, California's Mountain Pass mine is once again being tasked with unearthing a veritable treasure trove of metals and minerals that the United States hopes will help bridge a supply gulf with China in an increasingly critical industry. Splashing out hundreds of millions of dollars, the US Department of Defence is digging deep into the public coffers to bring back the mine, which has had a rocky history. After being shut down in 2002 due to environmental concerns, Mountain Pass was reawakened during the early days of former president Barack Obama's administration when the privately held Molycorp Minerals was formed to revive it. It was an ambitious undertaking, with approximately US$1.5 billion invested to reinstate production and give the US a competitive boost in the rare earth supply chain. But the effort ground to a halt in 2015 when the company went bankrupt. Advertisement In the decade since, Washington has slowly woken up to the reality of Beijing's chokehold on rare earths and watched as that dominant position has become China's biggest bargaining chip in the two sides' protracted trade war. The administration of US President Donald Trump has tried, with increased urgency, to get to the core of the problem by accelerating attempts to reduce America's deep reliance on China for the raw materials that are used in everything from military weapons and semiconductors to electric vehicles and wind turbines.
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump tariff threats loom over China's Russian oil purchases, following his move on India
Even in the face of threats by US President Donald Trump to levy tariffs on countries that import Russian goods, analysts expect that China 'will not stop' buying oil from its northern neighbour, given their mutually beneficial relationship of energy cooperation. Oil from Russia will continue to flow south over the long run because 'China's strategic goals require a stable and secure supply of critical resources such as oil', said Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research in Canada. His comments came with Trump sharpening his threat of sanctions on Russia if it fails to engage in a ceasefire in Ukraine, where Moscow has waged war for the last three and a half years. Previously, both the United States and the European Union announced blanket sanctions on Russia, and they also tried to cut off its lifelines by threatening secondary sanctions on those helping it. 'The US said at the time that it would implement those [tariff] threats by August 7-9 if trade with Russia was not curtailed by then, and affirmed that China would be a target,' Gertken added. 'The US has already taken action on India, so China is next in line.' Russia is China's top source of crude imports, supplying a record high 108.5 million tonnes, or 19.6 per cent of its total imports, last year. Guo Jiakun, spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a press conference last week that 'China will take energy supply measures … based on national interests', while 'tariff wars have no winners'.
