Hong Kong’s Article 23 security law to be passed ‘hopefully by this year’, city leader says, while revealing aim to also lift all Covid rules including mask mandate
- Chief executive says in newspaper interview new legislation is being drafted that will act like ‘firewall’ under a ‘preventive’ system to fend off foreign proxies
- He also indicates aim to lift all Covid measures this year or even by the first quarter
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday that he aimed to lift all coronavirus restrictions, including the mask mandate, within this year, adding he hoped “all matters can be resolved” by the first quarter.
Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020, to ban acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, but the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, stipulates a need for a local version of the legislation.
Hong Kong last attempted to pass the Article 23 bill in 2003, but that move was shelved after half a million people took to the streets in protest.
In the interview published by the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Lee said the Security Bureau was preparing a new draft of the bill and he aimed to complete the legislative process “hopefully this year, or no later than next”.
