Hong Kong residents line up to sign a petition supporting the national security legislation for Hong Kong on May 28, 2020. (PHOTO / CCTV VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

HONG KONG - Nearly three million HK residents signed a petition in support of the national security legislation during an eight-day campaign across Hong Kong, the campaign organizer said on Monday.

The signature campaign gathered 1.84 million signatures at street stands while another 1.09 million people signed online

"Through the petition we hope to express the Hong Kong residents' full support for the correct decision" on establishing and improving at the state level the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security, said Tam Yiu-chung, one of the campaign organizers, at a press conference on Monday.

The National People's Congress, China's top legislature, overwhelmingly approved on Thursday a decision for the introduction of national security legislation in Hong Kong.

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The signature campaign in Hong Kong, launched on May 24 and concluded on Sunday, gathered 1.84 million signatures at street stands while another 1.09 million people signed online.

The petition was launched by a newly established organization named United Front Supporting National Security Legislation.

According to the organization, 2,074 people from all walks of life in the Hong Kong society joined the organization as co-sponsors, with 1,023 groups from various sectors becoming supportive groups.

During the petition campaign, they set up more than 5,400 street stands across Hong Kong to collect public signatures and 25,000 people volunteered to work at these street stands.

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"We saw Hong Kong residents, many of them young people, enthusiastically participated in the petition (campaign)," Tam said, adding that the large number of participants fully reflected the strong aspiration of Hong Kong residents for the national security legislation.

The organization handed in the petition to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government (LOCPG) in the HKSAR on Monday afternoon.

As he received the petition, Director of the LOCPG in HKSAR Luo Huining said the large number of participants in the petition campaign fully demonstrated that the national security legislation is a popular and imperative move that meets the aspiration of Hong Kong residents.

The national security legislation will prevent, stop and punish acts and activities endangering national security; safeguard Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability; more effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Hong Kong residents; and ensure the steady and enduring growth of the cause of "one country, two systems," Luo said.

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Luo refuted sensational rumors that Hong Kong residents will lose the freedoms of speech, press and assembly and will be arrested for traveling abroad and dining with foreigners after the legislation, saying that these rumors deliberately confused the mass residents' legitimate rights with the very few crimes jeopardizing national security in a bid to create terror and stir up hatred.

He also stressed that the threat of sanctions by the United States revealed that the US doesn't care about Hong Kong's future, but uses it as a pawn to contain China's development. This exactly underscores the urgency of opposing external interference with the national security legislation, he said.