3
On point (d): I wish to state categorically that there is no evidence to suggest that the integrity and security of any systems handled by the Immigration Department have been compromised and I include in that the process for issuing the new SAR passports. Let me address the specific newspaper allegations made against Mr Leung:
(a)
(b)
(c)
There is no evidence and no reason to suppose that Mr Leung is or was a "Chinese Agent".
There is no evidence and no reason to believe that the list of BNSS beneficiaries has been compromised. In any case, Mr Leung, as Director of Immigration, did not personally hold such a list.
Nor do we have any evidence and reason to believe that he has passed any information on asylum seekers in Hong Kong to unauthorised parties. He did not personally hold this information, nor do we have any record of his seeking to acquire it.
Mr Chairman, we have in Hong Kong a Civil Service that is the envy of many communities elsewhere. We are known for our efficiency and high standard of integrity and probity. That reputation has not come about by chance. It has been hard won by good management and scrupulous adherence to well tried rules and regulations governing civil servants' work and private lives. These rules have evolved over the years and contain sufficient checks and balance to prevent arbitrary and unfair behaviour on the part of management. They are designed as much for the protection of individual officers as to provide effective tools for the Administration to manage a body of 180,000 officers. This is not an easy task. At this sensitive and critical stage of the transition when there is concern over maintaining standards in the Civil Service after 1997, it seems to me all the more important that we should re-affirm our standards, and be seen to deal decisively with a very senior officer who by his own acts or omissions has demonstrably fallen well below the standards we expect of him and in whom we no longer have any confidence or trust.
The Administration fully accepts that it is accountable to this Legislature. At the same time, we must be allowed to manage the Civil Service and to take the necessary decisions affecting individual officer's careers. It is never easy to ask a senior colleague to leave. In the final analysis, it is a matter of judgement as to whether an officer remains suited or unsuited for high office. We have made that decision in so far as Mr Leung is concerned and we stand by that decision.
Mr Chairman, I hope that my testimony today together with Mr Lam's testimony earlier this morning will satisfy Members as to the reasons for Mr Leung's sudden departure. I urge the Committee to bring this enquiry to a close as soon as possible in order to avoid further damage to the morale and image of the Immigration Department.