Hong Kong’s home secretary resigns for attending large party during pandemic

Hong Kong’s Home Secretary Caspar Tsui, on Monday submitted his resignation letter.

Tsui was responding to criticism of his participation in a birthday banquet in early January, in which two of the approximately 200 guests had tested positive for the Coronavirus.

“I made the wrong decision to attend a banquet on Jan. 3, and behaved in an inappropriate manner when all efforts should have been devoted to controlling the spread of the virus,’’ the politician said in a statement.

“I will take responsibility for my actions, and I have therefore, decided to resign from the position of secretary for home affairs.’’

The ceremony, which was also attended by police chief Raymond Siu and head of the Immigration Department Au Ka-wang, had sparked fierce criticism among the residents of Hong Kong.

This was shortly before the health authorities of the special administrative region had still advised the population to avoid large gatherings.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam spoke of how the high-ranking politicians who attended the birthday banquet had not set a good example for the people of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has a strict zero-COVID policy with tight restrictions on entry.

However, in recent weeks, daily infection rates within the metropolis had nevertheless increased significantly, with the seven-day average of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants currently exceeding 90.