• 11/26/2024

Beijing’s top official for Hong Kong affairs sets to visit city to hear feedback on new security legislation – reports

Hong Kong Free Press

Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong attends the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day on April 15, 2023. Photo: HKMAO.

Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs is set to visit the city this week to gather feedback on a proposed homegrown security legislation, known colloquially as Article 23, local media has reported citing sources.

Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong attends the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day on April 15, 2023. Photo: HKMAO.
Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong attends the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day on April 15, 2023. File photo: HKMAO.

Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO), will make a six-day visit from Thursday and meet with officials, lawmakers, and representatives from the commercial and legal sector, according to local media reports on Tuesday.

The trip would mark Xia’s second visit to Hong Kong within 12 months, following a restructure last March that made the HKMAO directly answerable to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China – its highest organ of authority.

When asked about Xia’s prospective visit during a weekly media briefing on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee neither confirmed nor denied whether it would happen. Instead he said China’s leader Xi Jinping and other top officials in Beijing valued Hong Kong and its residents’ well-being.

“During my two duty visits to Beijing, President Xi Jinping and other central officials repeatedly emphasised the great importance they attach to the Hong Kong’s economic development and improving Hongkongers’ livelihoods,” Lee said in Cantonese

“Central officials care about and value Hong Kong. If they hold any public events with Hong Kong officials, we will announce them as soon as possible,” he added.

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Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, requires Hong Kong to enact legislation to combat offences endangering national security. It stands alone from the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, which criminalised secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.

Authorities unveiled a consultation paper for the legislation of Article 23 last month, covering five areas of crime: treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage, and external interference.

See also: Article 23 then and now – What changed between 2002 and 2024

Xia’s trip in Hong Kong will likely conclude next Tuesday, local media reported, one day ahead of the end of a one-month public consultation period for legislation under Article 23.

The senior Beijing official also made a six-day visit to the city last April, during which he officiated a National Security Education Day event – which several media outlets, including HKFP and a wire service, were barred from attending without explanation – and expressed support for the legislation of the homegrown security law.

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https://hongkongfp.com/2024/02/20/beijings-top-official-for-hong-kong-affairs-sets-to-visit-city-to-hear-feedback-on-new-security-legislation-reports/