Hong Kong’s deputy security minister to take helm at gov’t PR wing

Hong Kong Free Press

Deputy Secretary for Security Apollonia Liu will head up the government’s PR department from Friday, replacing Fletch Chan as the Information Services Department (ISD) chief.

Liu does not have a background in media, communications or PR. She has been serving as a deputy security chief since 2018, following a seven-year stint as the deputy director of administration and development at the Department of Justice.

She joined the Administrative Service in August 1990, rising through the ranks and becoming an Administrative Officer in April 1990, according to a government press release on Friday.

During her career, she has served at the Transport Department, the Chief Secretary’s Office, the Civil Service Bureau and the Security Bureau, as well as held roles at former departments including the Constitutional Affairs Branch, City and New Territories Administration, and Central Policy Unit.

Information Services Department (Copy) — A booth of the Information Services Department at Hong Kong Book Fair 2022. File photo: GovHK.

“The appointees are seasoned Administrative Officers with proven leadership and management skills,” Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung said in a Friday press release announcing a number of senior appointments. “I have every confidence that they will continue to serve the community with professionalism in their new posts.”

Deputy security minister

As a deputy security minister, Liu hit the headlines in 2022 after she appeared at a UN hearing on human rights in Hong Kong. Liu was was unable to give clear assurances that civil society groups testifying at the UN rights body would not be targeted under the security law after three repeated lines of questioning.

In March, Liu’s letter to the UK’s Guardian was made public, in which she complained about coverage of the new, local national security legislation. In her letter to the editor, she rebutted a story headlined “Hong Kong official warns online criticism could breach new national security law,” saying that the legislation was clear, and “law-abiding persons will not unwittingly violate the law.” She added the report was “scaremongering” and “misleading.”

#HongKong‘s deputy security sec. Apollonia Liu was unable to give clear assurances that those testifying at the UN rights body would not be targeted under the security law after three, repeated questions. In full: https://t.co/jeOUOfbdVb pic.twitter.com/MGx2sy2kvx

— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) July 13, 2022

Justice chief Paul Lam had said that online criticism from foreign countries or those overseas may breach Article 23 depending on the “intention and purpose.”

The ISD provides a link between the government and the media. In 2022, the department faced an investigation by the government watchdog after HKFP journalists were among the reporters barred from covering the inauguration of John Lee as the city’s leader. In response to HKFP’s complaint, the Ombudsman said it agreed with the ISD that revealing the mechanism in which it hand-picked media outlets would aid “terrorists.”

In 2022, another minister without a media background took the reins at government-funded broadcaster RTHK. Eddie Cheung had no previous experience in the industry.

HKFP has contacted the ISD for comment.

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