HONG KONG - Matthew Cheung, chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Sunday that requiring civil servants to take oaths or sign declarations helps safeguard and promote the core values that should be upheld by civil servants and ensure the effective governance of the HKSAR government.

Cheung said in his blog that the HKSAR government in October last year began introducing the arrangement of requiring all civil servants to take an oath or sign a declaration that they will uphold the HKSAR Basic Law, bear allegiance to the HKSAR, and be dedicated to their duties and be responsible to the HKSAR government.

All the more than 6,000 newly recruited civil servants who joined the HKSAR government on or after July 1 last year, as well as the vast majority of serving civil servants (about 170,000 in total) have signed and returned their declarations, he said.

Cheung said that civil servants are an integral part of the HKSAR's political regime, an taking an oath or signing a declaration is an open acknowledgment of the acceptance and a genuine manifestation of the responsibilities of and expectations on civil servants.

He said that this is an important step to restore order, which provides a solid guarantee for the full implementation of the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle, ensures the steady development of "one country, two systems" and Hong Kong's long term prosperity and stability.

Cheung also said that the HKSAR government attaches great importance to civil service training and is actively making preparations for the establishment of the Civil Service College in 2021 to further enhance civil service training in terms of both quality and quantity.