A clear message that Hong Kong will not tolerate corruption

Former top government official and property tycoon have lost their final appeals against charges of misconduct in public office, despite arguments that theirs was simply a ‘thought crime’

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Former Chief Secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan arriving at the Court of Final Appeal in Central on June 14, 2017. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 4:30am, 21 Jun 2017Updated: 4:30am, 21 Jun 2017

One of the defining principles of Hong Kong’s legal system is that everyone is treated equally before the law. That includes the rich and the powerful. The decision by the top court to reject appeals against corruption convictions by two prominent figures has ensured that principle is upheld. The unanimous decision by five Court of Final Appeal judges lays to rest the biggest graft trial in the city’s history. Former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan and former Sun Hung Kai Properties tycoon Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong must now serve the remainder of their jail terms. They were both convicted in 2014 of plotting to commit misconduct in public office. Hui, who was also found guilty of other charges, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, Kwok for five years. At the heart of the appeal was a payment of HK$8.5 million by Kwok to Hui, via two middlemen, before Hui became chief secretary in 2005.

The dramatic downfall of these two former pillars of Hong Kong society shows that no one is beyond the reach of the law. It serves as a warning to all in public office that the highest ethical standards are expected of them. Benefits which might, in the past, have been regarded as a perk of the job are now correctly viewed as unlawful and liable to lead to arrest. It is a lesson that former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has also learned. He is now on bail pending his own appeal against a conviction for misconduct in public office.