The proposed national security law for Hong Kong will further improve the implementation of “one country, two systems”, legal heavyweights told a Basic Law seminar on Monday.

They also said that the tailor-made law aims to keep pertinent requirements to a minimum as it covers just the barest terms to protect national security in Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” principle. The National Security Law in force on the mainland has a much broader range of coverage, they added.

Safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests are top priorities on the agenda of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle

Maria Tam Wai-chu, deputy director of the Hong Kong SAR Basic Law Committee under the NPC Standing Committee

The decision of the National People’s Congress to add the proposed national security law for Hong Kong into Annex III of the Basic Law for promulgation is an innovation of the “one country, two systems” principle, said Liu Shuqiang, speaking on behalf of Zhang Yong, vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee under the NPC Standing Committee.

The central authorities did not simply apply national legislation in Hong Kong, demonstrating Beijing’s thorough consideration of the city’s actual circumstances and its great faith in the SAR, Liu said. Since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland in 1997, the NPC and its Standing Committee have been improving the “one country, two systems” principle according to the needs of new situations and practices, he said.

A “new situation”, he said, is the significant risk to national security posed by the active interference of external forces in Hong Kong’s internal affairs, via the deficiency of Hong Kong’s legal system.

The city has not yet enacted laws on its own to protect national security, as required by Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitutional document.

Heightened activities operated jointly by internal and external forces to challenge “one country, two systems”, underscored by the social unrest in the city, has posed serious threats to national security, he added.

To remedy and improve the system, the NPC authorized its Standing Committee to establish and improve the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the SAR to safeguard national security in late May.

The proposed legislation will fortify the defense in national security in Hong Kong through legal means and help to buttress the “one country, two systems” principle, Liu said.

Maria Tam Wai-chu, deputy director of the Hong Kong SAR Basic Law Committee under the NPC Standing Committee, agreed with Liu that safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests are top priorities on the agenda of the “one country, two systems” principle.

Universally, the central authorities hold the primary and ultimate responsibility for national security, whether it is in a federal system or a unitary state, Tam said in her online speech at the seminar.

Safeguarding national security is a means to protect the entire nation, which cannot be viewed separately by simply protecting the security of the Hong Kong SAR, the Macao SAR, or the mainland, Tam said.