Hong Kong home affairs chief removed from office by China's State Council

China's State Council has announced that it has removed Tsui Ying-wai from the post of secretary for home affairs of Hong Kong, local media reported on Monday.

China's State Council announced that it has removed Tsui Ying-wai from the post of secretary for home affairs of Hong Kong, local media reported on Monday.

The decision was made on February 24 in accordance with the HK administration's Basic Law of China, and based on the suggestion of Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier, Lam had asked Beijing to remove her home affairs chief, the highest-ranking official to be caught up in a scandal surrounding an Omicron-hit birthday bash.

Lam revealed the decision after Tsui Ying-wai had tendered his resignation to her.

"As one of the principal officials taking the lead in the anti-epidemic fight, I have not set the best example during the recent outbreak," Tsui had said in an earlier statement.

Tsui admitted that he made the wrong decision to attend a banquet on January 3 and said that he behaved in an inappropriate manner when all efforts should have been devoted to controlling the spread of the virus.