Nandu reporters learned from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) that on March 6, the SAR expressed strong dissatisfaction and condemnation over foreign erroneous reports that the SAR would enact legislation to prohibit the operation of relevant platforms in Hong Kong, which then caused misunderstanding and panic about the legislative proposal for Article 23 of the Basic Law. On the same day, the Secretary for Security of the HKSAR**, Mr Tang Ping-keung, said that during the public consultation on the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law, the HKSAR** received a total of 13,489 comments, of which about 98 supported and put forward positive views6%。
Tang Bingqiang. Bloomberg headlines are "HK Says Telegram Should Be Prohibited in Article 23 Proposal" and "HK Says Signal Should Be Prohibited in Article 23 Proposal" and "HK Security Law Public Consultation Lists" respectively Facebook, YouTube Ban", the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR**) issued a solemn statement that it does not propose to ban any social networking**, video-sharing platforms or streaming platforms operating in Hong Kong.
A spokesman for the HKSAR** said, "The Annex to the relevant Legislative Council document contains a summary of the written comments received by the HKSAR** in the relevant public consultation, which covers 75 pages. However, the report only singled out three of the collected views and used them with out-of-context headlines in an attempt to mislead the international community and the people of the HKSAR into believing that the HKSAR** would adopt the views or prohibit the operation of the relevant platforms in the HKSAR. Bloomberg's fake news has affected its credibility and credibility in the world. We urge Bloomberg to ensure that future coverage of Article 23 of the Basic Law is fair and balanced so that any readers are not further misled. ”
As the HKSAR** has repeatedly emphasized, the relevant provisions of the Basic Law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) that protect the rights and freedoms of individuals, including the provisions on freedom of expression, are equally applicable to the proposed protection of local legislation. Article 4 of the National Security Law clearly stipulates that the HKSAR shall respect and protect human rights while safeguarding the highest level of protection. When enacting legislation, the HKSAR** must protect human rights and freedoms in accordance with relevant international standards. The HKSAR** will make due reference to the views received during the public consultation period and strive to finalise the Bill for the Defence of *** Ordinance as soon as possible for submission to the Legislative Council for scrutiny. ”
On 28 February, the public consultation on the legislation for Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law ended on 28 February. On 6 March, a joint meeting of the Panel on Security, the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services and the Subcommittee to Study Issues Relating to the Legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was held. The Secretary for Security of the HKSAR**, Mr Tang Ping-keung, said at the meeting that during the consultation period (30 January to 28 February), the HKSAR** received a total of 13,489 comments, of which about 98 supported and put forward positive views6%。Mr Tang said the above results showed that the legislative proposal was supported by the majority of the public and stakeholders, including the general public.
Mr Tang pointed out that the views received covered different areas of the legislative proposals, as well as other proposals on safeguarding in addition to the specific views in the consultation paper, which provided a valuable reference for the process of formulating the Bill.
Written by: Nandu reporter He Jiahui.