HONG KONG - The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region stressed on Friday that all civil servants should not "unscrupulously" criticize the policies of the government or enforcement operations by individual departments, according to a government press release issued on the same day.

A government spokesman made the remarks in response to media enquiries on a social media post issued by a civil service staff union about the procession on New Year's Day.

A government spokesman stressed that all civil servants, including office bearers of staff unions, must abide by the relevant civil service regulations or code

The union had expressed dissatisfaction against the police's decision to end a procession on New Year's Day, alleging that the decision has restricted Hong Kong people's rights of procession, assembly and association, according to the press release.

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The spokesman said that the government expressed deep concern and regret over the remarks made by the union. He noted in the press release that the police's decision was made after taking into account public's safety considerations.

The government has stated in a Thursday press release that it "strongly condemns rioters breaching public peace" following the police's decision, the spokesman. "It is clear that the civil service staff union concerned has completely ignored this fact and made unscrupulous criticisms. This is totally unacceptable to the Government," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

According to the Civil Service Code, civil servants shall uphold the principle of political neutrality, which means that they should serve the chief executive and the government with total loyalty and to the best of their ability, no matter what their own political beliefs are, the spokesman said in the press release.

Should any civil servant violate the code of service, the government will deal with it in a serious manner in accordance with the established mechanism, the spokesman warned.

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He stressed that all civil servants, including office bearers of staff unions, must abide by the relevant civil service regulations or code.