Hong Kong’s top judge has claimed the exodus of foreign judges from the judiciary’s benches since the introduction of the national security law is due to escalating geopolitical tensions and “orchestrated harassment”. The city’s chief justice, Andrew Cheung, made the remarks at the ceremonial opening of the city’s legal year on Monday evening in a speech which acknowledged the changing political environment but otherwise stridently defended the judiciary. Hong Kong has a common law system separate from the Chinese mainland’s, but observers say it is under growing political pressure. In 2020 Beijing introduced a sweeping National Security Law (NSL) to