On the 30th, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) launched a legislative consultation on Article 23 of the Basic Law to draft a new "Safeguard Ordinance", covering five categories of acts and activities endangering national security that are not dealt with in the "Hong Kong National Security Law", including treason, rebellion, sabotage activities that endanger national security and the crime of overseas interference. Chief Executive John Lee made it clear that he had waited 26 years for the legislative work and could not wait any longer, reiterating that only a safe and stable environment would be conducive to economic development, otherwise it would all be an illusion built on floating sand.
Many people may have a question: with the National Security Law, why do we need to legislate under Article 23?
After the return to the motherland in 1997, the SAR ** followed most of the laws of the former Hong Kong and Britain, basically replacing the legal subjects such as the British colonial authorities and the British Empress with their Chinese counterparts, and did not amend the legal loopholes in detail, for example, in Hong Kong's original legal system, if the crime of espionage is involved, it can only refer to the "Official Secrets Ordinance" passed by the British legislation in 1935, and others include rebellion, incitement, and so on.
The Queen of England. Tung Chee-hwa once wanted to introduce 23 pieces of legislation, but failed in 2003, and the subsequent sessions of the first few sessions of the government left the legislation to be solved by later generations on the grounds of development (or other reasons), leaving the 23 articles on the shelf.
Mr tung. In 2019, the Hong Kong government launched a consultation on the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance", which was deliberately instigated by various forces to trigger large-scale black violence, and finally the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress incorporated it into Annex III of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the form of a national law, and promulgated and implemented the Hong Kong National Security Law (full name of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region").
Therefore, the introduction of the National Security Law was in response to the black violence at that time, and it was a response to the urgent need, and it was not a complete coverage and comprehensive maintenance***, but due to the urgency and pertinence of the National Security Law when it was introduced, although the National Security Law did not cover the 23 articles comprehensively and meticulously, the authorization and punishment were higher than the 23 articles, which is a later story.
So, with the National Security Law, why do we need to legislate with Article 23?
Because the 23 articles are more comprehensive and detailed in the *** field.
Well, why is it being established this year?
For more than 20 years, Article 23 has not been legislated, and the opposition of the United States is one of the important reasons.
Hong Kong is an international financial centre, and the United States dominates the financial and media sectors[gf]2EC6[gf].
However, since 2018, China and the United States have been in an all-out struggle, especially on November 29 last year, the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously amended and passed the "Hong Kong Economic Office (HKETO) Accreditation Act", requiring the United States to cancel the specific privileges and immunities of the Hong Kong Economic Office when Hong Kong no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy. The aim is to gradually deprive Hong Kong of its special rights and status, and to finish playing all the cards that the United States can play against Hong Kong. In the past, China was afraid of the United States imposing sanctions on Hong Kong, but now if you look at the performance of Hong Kong stocks, you can see that the United States has completely used Hong Kong as a pawn against China.
More importantly, in the first year of the United States, the anti-China issue will inevitably rise, and Hong Kong must also be one of the important chess pieces.
Text: Leisurely