context: The failure to enact local legislation on Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 in 2003 is regarded as a frustration of 'one country, two systems'. The success in 2024 demonstrates the coming of an era when patriots and Chinese civilisation and political influence, no longer those of Western countries, dominate in Hong Kong, according to domestic experts.
The Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the 'Safeguarding national security ordinance' unanimously on 19 March 2024 after the third reading. Taking effect on 23 March 2024, it consists of nine parts, including
- preliminary
- treason
- clarifying that a Chinese citizen failing to disclose the treason offences committed by others they knows will also be held criminally liable
- insurrection, incitement to mutiny and disaffection and acts with seditious intention
- authorising law enforcement officers to enter, by reasonable force if necessary, various premises or places to remove or obliterate publications that have seditious intention
- offences in connection with state secrets and espionage
- collecting, producing or possessing or communicating to any other person, any information that is directly or indirectly useful to an external force
- sabotage endangering national security
- external interference endangering national security and organisations engaging in activities endangering national security
- enforcement powers and procedures in legal actions in connection with safeguarding national security
- mechanisms for safeguarding national security and relevant protections
- related amendments
During the one-month public consultation period starting on 30 January 2024, the Hong Kong Security Bureau received over 13,000 submissions on the bill, of which 98.64 percent showed support and gave positive comments. On 8 March 2024, the bill was presented to the Legislative Council for first reading and quickly passed 12 days later.
The Ordinance has to be submitted to the NPCSC (National People's Congress Standing Committee) for filing and review next, explains an NPCSC Legal Affairs Commission official.
Kang Yumei 康玉梅 Beijing Foreign Studies University Law School associate professor argues that the Ordinance is a detailed implementation and continuation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL).
From the perspective of law hierarchy and binding forces, the HKNSL is national legislation and the Ordinance is local legislation. In terms of content, the Ordinance refines the provisions of the HKNSL on the four types of offences (secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security) and provides for other related crimes not covered by the HKNSL.