Hong Kong Security Secretary Tang Ping-keung: The details of Article 23 legislation are being studied, including espionage and theft of official secrets

Source: Global Times

[Ye Lan, Special Correspondent of the Global Times in Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Security Bureau is studying legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law.

Hong Kong Security Secretary Tang Ping-keung

Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung said on a television program on the 26th that now is the most appropriate time to enact Article 23 legislation, and after 17 years, the legislative proposals in 2003 are no longer enough to deal with the situation in Hong Kong in recent years, and it is necessary to repair legal gaps or gray areas, and is studying the details of legislation, including studying crimes not covered by the Hong Kong National Security Law, such as espionage, stealing official secrets, etc. For example, he said that in the 2019 "amendment storm", some people provided the demonstrators with helmets, MTR one-way tickets and clothing for free, all of which were carried out by state-level organizations. In response to the arrest of representatives of a number of groups on suspicion of violating Hong Kong's national security law, and the dissolution of many groups one after another, Tang Bingqiang said that the past actions were against the "big tigers". Although Hong Kong society is relatively calm now, it should not be taken lightly, because "homegrown terrorism" has been conceived, and the United States still uses Hong Kong to try to contain the country's development, which needs to be prevented, and the SAR government will study how to amend the Association Ordinance, such as whether it is necessary to add more implementation rules like the National Security Law, or refer to foreign laws to require associations to provide more data.

Over the past few days, Deng Bingqiang has repeatedly talked about the issue of article 23 legislation. In an interview on September 13, he revealed that he would start to promote Article 23 legislation in the future, hoping to complete it in the next Legislative Council period. On September 22, he also stressed that Article 23 legislation is necessary and urgent, taking the content of the draft legislation proposed in 2003 as a starting point, and then based on the situation in Hong Kong in the past two years and the expected events, plus the Regulations, implementation and court judgments of the Hong Kong National Security Law, and taking into account the national security laws of foreign countries, including the United States, the new Draft Article 23 legislation will be reformulated, focusing on the establishment of laws and regulations to control the theft of state secrets, that is, espionage activities, and the activities of foreign political organizations in Hong Kong. as well as the activities of Political Organizations in Hong Kong and foreign political organizations.

Article 23 legislation enjoys widespread support from Hong Kong society. The Federation of Trade Unions recently met with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to submit the "Policy Address" proposals, one of which is to recommend that the SAR government legislate Article 23 of the Basic Law within one year. Kwok Wai-keung of the Federation of Trade Unions said that the Hong Kong National Security Law does not cover all the contents of Article 23 of the Basic Law, such as dealing with the activities of foreign political groups in Hong Kong and the links between Hong Kong political groups and foreign groups, and the Hong Kong government should enact relevant legislation within one year to ensure that national security is fully guaranteed. Former Prosecutor Jiang Leshi said that even if Hong Kong already has a national security law, the work on article 23 of the Basic Law still needs to be implemented, especially against treason and sedition, which must be legislated. Some Hong Kong media commented that eliminating the residual poison of the "black riots" and eradicating the elements who are chaotic in Hong Kong is a long-term and arduous task. In order to ensure Hong Kong's long-term stability and prosperity, Article 23 legislation must be comprehensive and without dead ends to all acts that violate national security, so that hong Kong rioters have no loopholes to exploit and social tranquility.