Tsui set to quit over party-gate

Michael Shum

Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui Ying-wai is expected to step down upon the release of a report about him joining a birthday party amid restrictions for the Covid-19 outbreak.

That would make Tsui, 45, the first casualty of a major scandal, when he was among 15 top administration officials who attended the 53rd birthday party of Witman Hung Wai-man, principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority and a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress.

The gathering - popularly known as "party-gate" -was on January 3 at a Wan Chai restaurant amid the local outbreak of the highly infectious Covid-19 Omicron variant.

Their attendance led to a disciplinary investigation led by Eric Chan Kwok-ki, director of the Chief Executive's Office, and Secretary for the Civil Service Bureau Patrick Nip Tak-kuen.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had said she would announce results of the investigation before the Lunar New Year holidays, and today is the last working day before the start.

A source linked to Beijing said yesterday that Tsui, already named and shamed effectively by Lam, "tendered his resignation voluntarily" before results of the probe were known.

It is understood the resignation of Tsui, a politically appointed principal official, would have had to be approved by Beijing for he became secretary for home affairs with the backing of the central government in 2020 on Lam's recommendation.

In response to The Standard's request for comment, an administration spokesman said he would not be offering any remarks on a speculative report.

Lam said earlier that of all the officials who went to the Hung's birthday banquet that Tsui's attendance was "especially disappointing" as he stayed the longest at the party and also took off his mask during the event despite being one of the officials responsible for handling the pandemic in the SAR.

She also said government officials should always remain vigilant to avoid incidents that would "bring embarrassment" to the Hong Kong administration, and this was the baseline for how the Hung party case would be handled.

She added that the fact that Tsui stayed at the party until very late was "not really that appropriate."

The word within the SAR's top circle was that leaders within the pro-establishment camp had bargained on Tsui keeping his job, but Lam insisted on having him removed from her cabinet. So all that was required was Beijing's agreement that Tsui should go.

Tsui had been the only one among the 15 officials who had been ordered to prolong his leave after finishing a 21-day quarantine last Tuesday.

That was after Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang and Allen Fung Ying-lun, political assistant to the secretary for development, had resumed work last week.

Tsui was ordered to remain on leave until the end of the Lunar New Year holidays on Thursday.

Hung was also put into quarantine for 21 days from January 7.

Others who only "briefly arrived at the restaurant to greet the host before leaving" also returned to their offices after isolating themselves at home until they tested negative three times.

They included Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee and ICAC commissioner Simon Peh Yun-lu.

There were also undersecretaries and political assistants involved in the scandal.

Tsui, a member of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, was appointed secretary for home affairs on April 22, 2020.

He first became a government official as a political assistant to partymate and Secretary for Home Affairs Ray Lau Kong-wah in June 2008 after working for various financial institutions in Canada and Hong Kong.

He was promoted to undersecretary for labor and welfare in August 2017.

Tsui holds a bachelor's degree in economic, public policy and public administration from the University of Ottawa and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Manchester.