Public to Be Consulted on HK Basic Law Article 23: Spokesman

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 08, 2002

Public to Be Consulted on HK Basic Law Article 23: Spokesman

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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government will hold extensive public consultations when proposals on implementing Article 23 of the Basic Law (BL23) are ready, said a spokesman of the Security Bureau Tuesday.

"We stress the propriety of Hong Kong making its own laws on national security," the spokesman said. "This is as much a matter of our right, as it is our obligation."

According to Article 23 of the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.

"Hong Kong needs laws to ensure national security just like any other territories. BL23 provides that the Hong Kong SAR government should enact laws on its own to deal with a number of acts against the state and related matters," he said.

The spokesman noted that the Central People's Government has left it to the SAR government to decide on how to legislate and Hong Kong is free to formulate its own proposals on BL23, consult the public and present a package to the local legislature.

"This is in full accord with the 'one country, two systems' principle enshrined in the Basic Law," the spokesman explained.

"For the purpose of eventual legislation, we are reviewing the continued applicability of the relevant laws in Hong Kong. There are already provisions concerning treason and sedition in the Crimes Ordinance, espionage and unauthorized disclosure of protected information in the Official Secrets Ordinance and connections with foreign political organizations in the Societies Ordinance," he said.

"We are also studying the relevant laws and law reform proposals of the mainland and other countries.

"In parallel, we will examine relevant human rights principles, including the various freedoms guaranteed by the Basic Law (those of speech, association and assembly etc.) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong," he added.

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