Need for national security law in Hong Kong becoming urgent, Beijing official says

Steps must also be taken to prevent ‘foreign forces’ from interfering in city’s affairs, director of Chinese central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office says

Rise of independence forces linked to city’s failure to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, he says

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A senior Beijing official says establishing a mechanism for safeguarding national security in Hong Kong has become an urgent task. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 9:00am, 10 Nov 2019Updated: 6:14pm, 22 May 2020

A senior Beijing official says there is an urgent need for Hong Kong to enact national security legislation, and that further steps must be taken to stop “foreign forces” interfering in the city’s affairs.

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council – China’s cabinet – made the comments in a 6,000-word-plus article written after Communist Party leaders ended their four-day plenary meeting in Beijing at the end of last month.

“Establishing a sound legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding national security have become prominent issues and urgent tasks for the government of the Hong Kong special administrative region [SAR] and people from all walks of life,” he said.

The rise of independence forces in the city could be linked to its failure to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, Zhang said, adding that the unrest, which has been going on for the past five months, had exposed the need for stronger measures to overcome the risk of the city being used by foreign forces to undermine China.

“Hong Kong has not yet completed the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law, nor has it established any agency to deal with national security matters,” he said, referring to the clause in Hong Kong’s mini-constitution that says it must enact its own national security law.

“This is one of the main reasons for the Hong Kong independence and local radical separatist forces becoming intensified,” he said.

Zhang made reference to the founding of the Hong Kong National Party by Andy Chan Ho-tin – a group deemed illegal by the city government and banned from operating – and the support he received from Financial Times journalist Victor Mallet, who chaired a talk hosted by Chan at the Foreign Correspondents Club last year.

Need for national security law in Hong Kong becoming urgent, Beijing official says

Steps must also be taken to prevent ‘foreign forces’ from interfering in city’s affairs, director of Chinese central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office says Rise of independence forces linked to city’s failure to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, he says

Steps must also be taken to prevent ‘foreign forces’ from interfering in city’s affairs, director of Chinese central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office says

Rise of independence forces linked to city’s failure to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, he says