Hong Kong leader John Lee vows to enact domestic national security law ‘as soon as possible’, cuts short Beijing ‘two sessions’ trip
- Legislative Council calls two special meetings in coming days, potentially paving way for government to unveil draft of home-grown security law required under Article 23
- Chief Executive John Lee ends Beijing trip one day early, with other lawmakers also understood to have returned ahead of Legco meetings
The Legislative Council in the afternoon called two special meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, potentially paving the way for authorities to unveil the draft legislation and present the findings of a one-month public consultation over the bill. Authorities have not set a date for revealing the draft.
The Post learned that several lawmakers who were in Beijing for the “two sessions”, the country’s biggest annual political gatherings, had also returned to Hong Kong for the Legco meetings.
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“Our main task after the consultation period is to consolidate all the ideas and see how we can implement some of the government’s suggestions along with the comments we received,” Lee said, referring to the legislation required under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
“Our teams are striving hard and I have requested them to complete the work as soon as possible, so that we can pass it on to the legislature to scrutinise it quickly,” Lee said, without disclosing a timetable.
The city leader also cited the 98.6 per cent approval rate from about 13,000 submissions received during the consultation period.
“Many of those are constructive opinions, which allow us to ‘optimise’ [our draft] and give us more confidence in drafting the bill. We will also take reference from overseas experience and consider which ones are applicable for the city,” he said.
Lawmakers, who were also tasked with safeguarding national security, should also work hard to complete the legislation swiftly, he added.
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Lee left Hong Kong on Monday to attend the two sessions, or lianghui, and was supposed to return on Wednesday, but cut short his trip by coming back on Tuesday night.
Without specifying a reason, Lee simply said that he had “completed his major itinerary” in the capital after meeting two ministries in as many days, adding there was no need to “stay one more night”.
Lee’s attendance pass for the two sessions also caught media attention as he was assigned “0023”, matching the numbers for Article 23. Last year, he was assigned “0159”.
Hong Kong wrapped up its one-month consultation for the legislation on Wednesday last week.
The legislation will complement the national security law that Beijing imposed in 2020, outlawing five new types of offences – treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, and theft of state secrets and espionage.
