Hong Kong authorities accept three-level accountability for fatal fire
Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office praised the Hong Kong government’s three-level accountability response to a fatal fire at Hongfuyuan estate, including criminal prosecution, administrative discipline and political responsibility, while warning against attempts to exploit the disaster to
The Central and State Council Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office published an article under the byline “Hong Kong and Macao Ping”, praising the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government for its handling of the Hongfuyuan estate fire.
The article said the HKSAR government had issued a public apology for the fire, and — based on a report by an independent commission — decided to pursue criminal accountability, administrative responsibility and political liability. It added that the government had proposed systemic reforms to address deep-seated problems revealed by the report, demonstrating its role as the “head of the household” and primary duty bearer.
According to the article, the report found that the fire broke out and spread rapidly, causing heavy casualties, mainly because of illegal or non-compliant acts by the contractor and engineering consultants. It also found shortcomings and deficiencies in the relevant government supervisory departments.
The HKSAR government, the article said, offered a sincere apology and announced that, while continuing criminal prosecution of those involved and related companies, it would also impose administrative accountability on derelict civil servants under the “department head accountability system” and other civil service management rules. It also decided that relevant principal officials would bear political responsibility for the incident.
The article described the three-level accountability as serious and rigorous, as well as realistic and proportionate, effectively responding to public concerns and reflecting the responsibility and courage of a responsible government.
The article stressed that the fire exposed long-standing problems in building maintenance systems and unclear regulatory responsibilities among government departments, and that only “cutting to the bone” systemic reform could eradicate such chronic defects and fundamentally prevent a repeat of similar incidents.
The article also warned that, during the aftermath, some people with ulterior motives had distorted the facts of the accident, used the disaster to create social division and incite dissatisfaction with the government, in an attempt to “use disaster to destabilise Hong Kong”. It said all forms of anti-China and anti-Hong Kong acts must be met with high vigilance and resolutely combated.