Hong Kong’s own security law Article 23 to be discussed in Legislative Council this year

Hong Kong Free Press

Hong Kong security law Article 23 to be tabled at legislature this year

Hong Kong lawmakers will discuss the city’s own national security law in the legislature this year, according to an annual agenda submitted to the Legislative Council (LegCo).

National and Hong Kong flags decorate Tsim Sha Tsui, in Hong Kong, on October 1, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. — National and Hong Kong flags decorate Tsim Sha Tsui, in Hong Kong, on October 1, 2023. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The “Safeguarding National Security Bill” is slated to be tabled to the LegCo within the 2024 legislative session, according to the annual programme submitted to the Legislative Council’s Bills Committee on Friday.

The bill, introduced by the city’s Security Bureau, aims to “implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, to enhance relevant laws for safeguarding national security, and to provide for related matters,” the agenda states.

Under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution which came into force after the Handover in 1997, the city’s government must enact its own security law. The law is to prohibit seven types of offences – treason; secession; sedition; subversion against the central government; theft of state secrets; foreign bodies’ conducting political activities in the city; and local bodies establishing ties with foreign bodies.

Article 23 stands alone from Beijing’s national security law, which was passed in June 2020 after the 2019 protests and unrest. The security law criminalises secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, with offenders facing up to life imprisonment.

Legislative Council Chamber — The Legislative Council chamber. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The local legislation would work in tandem with the Beijing-imposed national security law to curb and punish activities that endanger national security, officials have said.

The programme states that the bill will be introduced in the first or second half of the year. With no meaningful opposition in LegCo following an election overhaul that effectively shut out the non-pro-establishment, the legislation is set to pass.

The other items on the legislative agenda include matters relating to cybersecurity, animal cruelty prevention and tax cuts for families with newborns.

In a press conference after announcing the Policy Address last October, Chief Executive John Lee vowed to roll out Article 23 this year. He said the protests and unrest that erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill were a result of the city lacking national security legislation.

Chief Executive John Lee meets the press after announcing 2023 Policy Address on October 25, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The bill to introduce Hong Kong’s own national security legislation was left out of last year’s agenda. It was scheduled to be tabled in 2022, according to the programme submitted to the legislature that January, but was taken off the list later that October.

Legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests and has rarely been brought up by government officials since, but authorities said after the onset of the Beijing-imposed security law in 2020 that there was a need for Article 23 to plug loopholes.

Under Beijing’s national security law, dozens of activists have been arrested and civil society groups have disbanded citing fear of the legislation. Pro-democracy advocates fear that Article 23 could further limit civil liberties.

But authorities have said that the existing security law has allowed stability to be restored to the city, and that Article 23 would have no impact on Hongkongers’ daily lives, business or media freedoms.