【明報專訊】The government's vetting process for the Top Talent Pass Scheme has landed in controversy. He Jiankui, an academic who was jailed on the mainland for genetically editing human embryos, had been granted a visa to Hong Kong under the scheme. His qualification was revoked only last night (21 February) after the case had raised wide concern. The Secretary for Labour and Welfare said yesterday that applicants were not required to declare whether they had criminal records in the scheme's application process. However, according to the Immigration Department's website, aside from the eligibility criteria of academic qualifications or working income, applicants under the scheme have to meet normal entry requirements, such as having no record of serious crimes.
There may be room for discussion regarding whether the scheme should rule out all applicants with criminal records. But the authorities should have stated clearly in the first place that it is required to declare criminal records, rather than granting approvals unknowingly and shifting the responsibility to the "last gatekeeper" — the Director of Immigration. The incident shows that the government should be more meticulous in formulating policies and more cautious in executing them.
The Top Talent Pass Scheme was launched by the government late last year to trawl for high-earners and elite college graduates. So far, the scheme has received over 10,000 applications, and nearly 8,000 have been approved — He Jiankui's being one of them. He was an associate professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen when he announced in late 2018 that he had applied genome editing techniques to human embryos. His work led to the birth of innately HIV-immune twin girls on the mainland, which became the world's first case of gene-edited babies.
Not only did the incident spark a storm of controversy over medical ethics, but it also brought him and two collaborators to court on the mainland. A court in Shenzhen held that the defendants had knowingly violated the country's regulations on scientific research and medical management and ruled the three of them guilty of charges including "illegal medical practice". Among them, He Jiankui received the heaviest sentence of three years in jail. He was also "blacklisted" and banned from working in services related to assisted human reproductive technology for life.
After his release from prison last April, He set up the "Jiankui He Lab" in Beijing to engage in scientific research on gene therapy for rare genetic diseases. Early this month, he submitted an application online for the Top Talent Pass Scheme and was granted approval one week later. He was then about to contact some universities and scientific research institutions in Hong Kong for collaborative and working opportunities. He did not respond when asked if he had mentioned his criminal record when applying for the scheme.
Companies are glad to hire more ex-offenders for frontline or junior positions, but they may have more concerns when recruiting middle- to senior-level staff or senior researchers. The case of He Jiankui is complicated not only because he was convicted of "illegal medical practice", but also because he had transgressed the bottom line of ethics in scientific research.
The most perplexing part of the matter is why the Labour and Welfare Bureau did not ask Top Talent Pass Scheme applicants to declare their criminal records in the first place. It was only in the wake of the controversy surrounding He Jiankui that the various departments made haste to make up for it, including requiring all applicants to declare details of any criminal record starting from today (22 February) and investigating whether He had made false statements.
The incumbent government places high importance on KPIs (key performance indicators). But if its focus is only on chasing after indicators and meeting deadlines, its policies will be half-baked and cost-effectiveness will be neglected. That will only lead to problems of all sorts.
明報社評2023.02.22：政策制訂不夠縝密 高才通審批出亂子
政府「高端人才通行證計劃」審批處理掀議論，曾因人類胚胎基因編輯而在內地判囚的學者賀建奎，申請「高才通」獲批風波鬧大後，昨晚才被取消資格。勞福局長昨天表示，「高才通」申請過程中，毋須當事人申報有否犯罪紀錄，然而根據入境處網站介紹，「高才通」申請者除了必須符合學歷或工作收入要求，亦須符合一般的入境規定，例如沒有嚴重犯罪紀錄。
「高才通」計劃應否一律將有案底者拒諸門外，可以斟酌，但當局應該一開始便明確要求申報犯罪紀錄，而不是在不知情下批准申請，將責任推卸給入境處長這名「最後把關人」，事件反映政府政策制訂需要更縝密，處理亦應該更謹慎。
政府去年底推出「高才通」招攬高收入和頂尖學府畢業生，至今有逾萬宗申請，近8000宗獲批，賀建奎是其中之一。2018年底，時任深圳南方科技大學副教授的賀建奎宣布利用人類胚胎基因編輯技術，讓天生對愛滋病免疫的一對雙胞胎女嬰在內地誕生，成為世上基因編輯嬰兒首例。
事件不僅引發醫學倫理爭議，賀建奎和另外兩名涉事者，還因此在內地惹上官非，深圳法院認為被告故意違反國家有關科研和醫療管理規定，裁定3人「非法行醫」等罪成，當中以賀建奎判囚3年刑期最重，還被列入「黑名單」，終身禁止從事人類輔助生殖技術服務工作。
去年4月，賀建奎出獄後於北京成立「賀建奎實驗室」，從事罕見遺傳病基因治療科學研究。賀建奎本月初在網上提交「高才通」申請，一周後獲批，早前正準備聯繫香港一些大學和科研機構，看看是否有合作和工作機會。問及申請「高才通」時有否提及案底，賀建奎未有回答。
企業樂意多請更生人士擔任前線或初級職位，但聘請中高層或高級研究員時，可能又會有更多考慮。賀建奎個案的複雜，在於他不僅因為「非法行醫」定罪，還因為他曾經踰越科研倫理道德底線。
今次事件最令人不明所以的地方，是為何勞福局之前沒有要求「高才通」申請人申報犯罪紀錄，直到賀建奎爭議曝光後，各方才急急補鑊，包括規定所有申請者今天起必須申報，以及調查賀建奎有否虛假陳述。
現屆政府重視KPI（關鍵績效指標），但如果只求追指標趕死線，政策思慮不周、不重成本效益，有可能衍生各種各樣的問題。
/ Glossary生字 /
vetting：the process of finding out everything about sb's past life and career in order to decide if they are suitable for sth
trawl：to search through a large amount of information or a large number of people, places, etc. looking for a particular thing or person
transgress：to go beyond the limit of what is morally or legally acceptable