Chris Sun
孫玉菡
Sun in 2023
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Assumed office
1 July 2022
Preceded byLaw Chi-kwong
Personal details
Born (1971-12-28) 28 December 1971 (age 52)
Shandong, China
CitizenshipHong Kong

Chris Sun Yuk-han (Chinese: 孫玉菡) is the current Secretary for Labour and Welfare in Hong Kong, appointed on 1 July 2022 as part of John Lee's administration.[1]

Biography

According to his official government profile, Sun in 1994 joined the Administrative Service, and was appointed as the Deputy Secretary for Food and Health (Health) in 2011, the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services) in 2017, and the Commissioner for Labour in 2020.[1][2]

Secretary for Labour and Welfare

In July 2022, Sun attended a seminar to "learn and promote" the spirit of Xi Jinping's important speech.[3]

On 21 October 2022, after Lee had said 140,000 people had left the workforce in the past 2 years, with about two-thirds of them highly skilled, Sun said it didn't necessarily mean they had moved overseas, but did not elaborate.[4] Lee previously rejected the use of the term "emigration wave" when describing the change in population.[5] The emigration wave has been attributed to the government's strict COVID-19 policies and the political situation in Hong Kong.[6]

Also on 21 October 2022, after Lee announced in his maiden policy address plans to try to attract worldwide talents to Hong Kong, Sun publicly criticized a Ming Pao newspaper cartoon that depicted a bulletin board advertisement which "urgently" sought for "world-class talents" to come to Hong Kong, with those who were "accepting of strict governance" being given priority. Sun said the cartoon was "absurd and a serious deviation from the truth" and "Such self-righteous humour will only damage Hong Kong's image."[6]

On 24 October 2022, Sun said that there was no need to compare Hong Kong to Singapore for talent acquisition, and that Hong Kong's talent loss was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

In November 2022, Sun said that he was confident that the government would be able to attract foreign talent under Lee's policy address, saying "From next year onwards until 2025, we should be able to attract at least every year 35,000 talents to fill the gap in the local market."[8]

In December 2022, Sun rejected calls from lawmakers who said that the government should set up a committee to come up with a population policy, with lawmaker Simon Lee saying that Sun was reacting passively to the problem of decreased birth rates and a shrinking workforce population in Hong Kong.[9] At the same month, he was tested positive for COVID-19.[10]

In January 2023, Sun said that government figures that show approximately 25% of people in Hong Kong being under the poverty line was "flawed" and did not give a full picture of the situation.[11]

Top Talent Pass Scheme

In February 2023, Sun revealed that the Top Talent Pass Scheme had approximately two thirds of all applicants come from mainland China.[12] Most of the rest of the "overseas" applicants still hold a mainland Chinese passport; sources estimated that up to 95% of all applicants have a mainland Chinese passport.[13] The program was announced in October 2022, with a "global drive".[14] In April 2023, Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang confirmed that 95% of all applicants were mainland Chinese, with only 3% of applicants coming from Canada, Australia, the United States, and Singapore.[15] In April 2023, Sun also commented that the program was popular among "foreign talent."[16] SCMP reported that 95% of approvals were also given to mainland Chinese.[17] On 30 June 2023, local media also confirmed that 95% of approvals were given to mainland Chinese; when asked about if the program was unattractive to foreigners, Sun said mainland Chinese "knew better about Hong Kong."[18]

After He Jiankui, a formerly jailed mainland Chinese citizen, was approved for the Top Talent Pass Scheme, Sun acknowledged that applicants do not need to declare their criminal history. Being asked by reporters about the case, Sun said that he would not make comments on individual cases, as this would "not [be] appropriate" for him. He Jiankui also said that despite being approved for the visa, he had no plans to move to Hong Kong.[19] After the incident, the government said that future applicants must declare their past criminal records.[20]

After multiple posts on mainland Chinese online platforms discussed using the visa to give birth to children in Hong Kong, which would give benefits such as right of abode and permanent residency to the children, government authorities warned that mainland Chinese women should not misuse the visa to give birth in Hong Kong.[21]

In July 2023, Sun announced that the government would consider allowing graduates from mainland Chinese universities which were not ranked in the top 100 to apply for the program.[18]

In September 2023, SCMP reported that out of five visas schemes to work in Hong Kong, more than 90% of those approved were from mainland China. Some industry experts, including the CEO of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, warned that more talent from outside of China was needed to maintain Hong Kong's international status, diversity, and creativity.[22]

In October 2023, local media interviewed approved Top Talent Pass Scheme visa holders, with some saying they did not plan to move to Hong Kong, and instead would use the visa as a backup option.[23] Other applicants have said that they would use the visa to travel to Hong Kong to eat and shop, rather than to work there.[24]

Importation of foreign labour

In June 2023, the government announced that 20,000 workers would be hired from outside of Hong Kong; both pro-Beijing and pro-democracy groups criticized the plan, saying the government was "circumventing" the Labour Advisory Board, with one group saying that the "government intentionally bypassed the existing mechanism for importing labour."[25] After a meeting with the government, a representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions said that the government had decided to "announce first, consult later" and "completely disrespected" the members' opinions.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b "Executive Council - Membership of Executive Council - Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun". www.ceo.gov.hk. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Senior appointments (with photos)". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Hong Kong sectors rush to hold 'mainland-style' seminars to study Xi Jinping's speech". South China Morning Post. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  4. ^ "'Talent trawl won't disadvantage local workers' - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  5. ^ Chau, Candice (23 October 2022). "Hong Kong Policy Address: How much of John Lee's maiden speech was old wine in new bottles?". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b Leung, Hillary (24 October 2022). "Hong Kong's John Lee defends labour sec.'s criticism of political cartoonist mocking talent attraction scheme". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  7. ^ Shi, Stacy. "Sun shines light on different turfs in rivalry". The Standard. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Importing carers won't harm local workers: minister - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Govt rejects call for committee on population policy - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  10. ^ Kong, Dimsumdaily Hong (10 December 2022). "Secretary for Labour and Welfare tests positive for COVID-19". Dimsum Daily. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Poverty line doesn't give the full picture: Chris Sun - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Hong Kong talent scheme receives 10,810 applications, half are top graduates". South China Morning Post. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  13. ^ Shi, Stacy. "Huge chunk of talent-scheme pool comes from mainland". The Standard. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  14. ^ Yiu, William (16 February 2023). "Hong Kong population drops for 3rd straight year, losing 60,000 residents". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  15. ^ Mok, Lea. "Hong Kong's talent attraction scheme approves 12,000 applications so far, official says - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  16. ^ Mok, Lea (13 April 2023). "Hong Kong's talent attraction scheme approves 12,000 applications so far, official says". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  17. ^ "95 per cent of approved applicants for Hong Kong talent scheme from mainland China". South China Morning Post. 7 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  18. ^ a b Cheng, Mandy (5 July 2023). "Hong Kong's talent attraction scheme may lower entry barriers for graduates from mainland universities". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  19. ^ Lee, Peter. "No criminal checks required for new talent scheme applicants, Hong Kong official confirms - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  20. ^ AFP. "U-turn as Hong Kong revokes visa of Chinese scientist jailed over gene editing - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  21. ^ Zhao, Ziwen; Cheung, Ezra (22 February 2023). "Mainland Chinese told not to misuse Hong Kong talent visas to have babies in city". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Wave of mainland Chinese under Hong Kong talent drive sparks diversity concerns". South China Morning Post. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  23. ^ Chan, Irene (10 October 2023). "Hong Kong issues 100,000 work visas in first 9 months of the year". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  24. ^ Leung, Hillary. "Hong Kong Policy Address: Reviewing 3 of Chief Executive John Lee's key measures from 2022 - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  25. ^ Ho, Kelly. "Hong Kong seeks to import 20,000 workers amid labour shortage in construction and transport sectors - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  26. ^ Chau, Candice. "Hong Kong's John Lee defends labour import plan after workers reps. leave meeting with gov't officials in protest - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
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