The Hong Kong government will create its own national security law “as soon as possible”, a text which will be added to the current legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020, its leader announced on Tuesday January 30.
This text will cover five offenses, including treason, insurrection and espionage, said several officials including John Lee, chief executive of the southern Chinese territory.
“I must emphasize that legislation (under) Article 23 of the Basic Law must be made […] as soon as possible,” said John Lee, referring to the article in the local mini-Constitution requiring Hong Kong to legislate on its own national security regarding seven security crimes, including treason and espionage. ” This is a constitutional responsibility of (Hong Kong) […] which is not assumed 26 years after the handover” of the territory to China by the United Kingdom in 1997, added John Lee.
More freedoms
Huge pro-democracy demonstrations shook the financial center in 2019, when hundreds of thousands of people protested to demand more freedoms.
In response, Beijing imposed a national security law covering four offenses – secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The city is administered under the principle of “One country, two systems” which allows for a separation of legal and judicial structures vis-à-vis mainland China.
“Threat”
The consultation process on this new law will be “open” and the document containing the new provisions made available, said the head of the Hong Kong executive. Even though “our society as a whole seems calm and very safe, we still need to be vigilant for potential sabotage and undercurrents that attempt to cause unrest, particularly some of the ideas about independence of Hong Kong which are still ingrained in the minds of some people,” said John Lee.
“A few foreign agents could still be active in Hong Kong,” he added. “Threats to national security are real, we have experienced them and suffered hard from them […] We don’t want to relive this painful experience.”
Since Beijing imposed its national security legislation in 2020, 290 people have been arrested under it, including dozens of local political figures, pro-democracy activists, lawyers, trade unionists and journalists. . More than 30 people have been convicted for national security offenses.
Opponents of the national security law say the sweeping text has impacted Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center, highlighting the ongoing talent drain as foreign companies question the choice. of Hong Kong as an Asian hub.
In 2003, a local draft text on national security had to be abandoned under pressure from some 500,000 demonstrators opposed to the legislation.