Hong Kong appoints Chan Tsz-tat as new customs chief as Louise Ho retires from dep’t
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong has appointed a new customs chief to replace former department head Louise Ho, who went on pre-retirement leave on Tuesday.
The government named Chan Tsz-tat as commissioner of customs and excise on Tuesday after the central government accepted Chief Executive John Lee’s recommendation that Chan lead the department he has worked with for more than three decades.
In a statement announcing Chan’s promotion, Lee said: “Mr Chan has served in the Customs and Excise Department for 30 years and has extensive experience in departmental operations. He possesses solid management and leadership skills. I am confident that he will lead the Customs and Excise Department in meeting the challenges ahead.”
Lee’s predecessor Carrie Lam made a nearly identical statement when announcing Ho as head of customs three years ago.
Lee also said he expressed his “heartfelt appreciation for Ms Ho for her contribution to [Hong Kong] and I wish her a happy department.” Ho, who is married to Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang, became the first woman to head the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department when she took over as commissioner in October 2021.
Under Ho’s watch, the department stepped up measures to prevent items that may endanger national security from entering the city. Asked by a reporter in April whether that meant stopping people from bringing editions of Apple Daily into the city, Ho said it depended on a person’s intention. The pro-democracy newspaper ceased publication in June 2021 after several top-level staff were arrested under a Beijing-imposed security law.
“Only if a visitor has no reasonable defence for [carrying] a publication that may be seditious would we notify law enforcement departments,” Ho said in Cantonese.
Last year, a man was arrested over importing children’s books that had been deemed “seditious” in an earlier court ruling. The books – featuring sheep and wolves – were said to be filled with “distorted ideas” intending to incite hatred of the local and Chinese governments.
Chan joined the customs department in 1994 as an inspector, and was subsequently promoted three times, before becoming deputy commissioner in 2022. He was awarded a long-service medal in 2012, and the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Medal for Distinguished Service in 2023.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
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