HK Government Withdraws Draft Security Bill

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 05, 2003

HK Government Withdraws Draft Security Bill

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Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa said Friday that the SAR government has decided to withdraw the drafted National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill, known as Article 23 of the Basic Law.

Addressing the media at noon after a special Executive Council meeting, Tung noted that Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong must legislate on its own to ban actions that wouldthreaten national security.

"This is a representation of the Central Government's trust of the Hong Kong people," he said.

"Legislating on Article 23 is a constitutional obligation and one that should be fulfilled by the citizens of Hong Kong. Judgingfrom the results of consultations done earlier on, on this particular point there has been a consensus in the community," Tung said.

He said that concerning the detailed legislative provisions, there is still doubt and there are still questions remaining in the community.

"To afford more time for the community to ponder over the issue,we have decided to withdraw the bill, and within the Security Bureau we will set up an internal task force to review and take stock of the entire legislative project," he said.

The Chief Executive and his Council believe that after another round of consultation, Article 23 legislation will win consensus from the community that the Hong Kong government will eventually be able to put it through.

Tung noted Hong Kong is in a painful economic adjustment, especially after SARS. "We have been hit hard by SARS and we all the more require all quarters of society and all sectors of society to come together to revitalize the economy," he said.

"The Hong Kong government has pushed ahead with a range of measures to revitalize the economy and there have been good results coming out of these measures, so we must grasp this very valuable opportunity to continue to push our economy further," said Tung.

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