We remember the days when the HKBA refused to be a puppet of Beijing, those days are now over, the capitulation is complete.
SCMP
- Chairman Victor Dawes reveals Beijing’s chief of Hong Kong affairs asked him for a meeting in Shenzhen to discuss concerns of the city’s legal fraternity, including the future of common law system
- Regular exchanges with mainland authorities to resume after five years of suspension
The Hong Kong Bar Association will lead a 20-member delegation to the country’s capital in April in a significant thawing of relations after such exchanges were frozen five years ago and amid assurances from Beijing that the city’s common law system will remain unchanged.
In an exclusive interview with the Post on Wednesday, association chairman Victor Dawes, SC, also revealed that Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), had sent out a reassuring message in a private meeting with him that the city’s independent bar would remain a vital part of the common law system which in itself was critical to Hong Kong.
The message was a strong reassurance to the younger generation of barristers, he said, as he disclosed how Xia had invited him to Shenzhen in February before China’s legislature met for its annual gathering earlier this month, and they had discussed a range of legal issues facing Hong Kong.
