President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, delivered a much-anticipated speech at the ceremony celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in Beijing on July 1. “We will ensure that the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong and Macao, and implement the legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for the two special administrative regions to safeguard national security,” he told the ceremony.
Xi’s words reflect the central authorities’ determination to “rule Hong Kong with law”. This proves claims such as “Hong Kong’s rule of law is dead” are nothing but lies to deceive Hong Kong society and fuel hatred toward the central government and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government. Those who tell such lies have no proof but ill intent for rumor-mongering.
The inability of the HKSAR government to complete local legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law left a gaping loophole that allowed hostile forces to threaten China’s national security through Hong Kong until the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the nation’s highest institution of State power, promulgated the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, which took effect on June 30, 2020. Since then, Hong Kong has been able to restore public order and peace by shackling the “black revolution”, which ravaged the city from June 2019 through June last year.
The National Security Law promulgated by the NPCSC for enforcement in the HKSAR provides Hong Kong with a statutory framework on safeguarding national security within the city, but the HKSAR still needs to build up its own enforcement mechanisms to maintain the effectiveness of the law by completing the local legislation on national security according to Article 23 of the Basic Law as soon as possible. As long as the doctrine of “all equal before the law” stands in Hong Kong, no individual, institution or organization, be it a media entity, professional association, trade union, human rights group or law scholar, is above the law nor entitled to challenge or undermine the National Security Law with “freedom of expression” or the likes as excuse.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and therefore obligated to safeguard national security however necessary. According to Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong must complete its own national security legislation to prevent and punish offenses such as treason, secession, inciting insurrection, subverting State power and stealing State secrets, and prohibit political and/or nongovernment organizations, local or foreign, from engaging in activities detrimental to China’s national security in Hong Kong. Article 7 of the National Security Law enacted by the NPCSC also requires the HKSAR to fulfill its constitutional obligation of national security legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law as soon as possible and continue improving related enforcement mechanisms.
Hong Kong is still faced with three major threats to national security within its boundaries, namely, external hostile forces hellbent on sabotaging China by all means; attempts by local entities to exploit anti-China and anti-CPC sentiments through propaganda disguised as entertainment and literature to poison local residents’ minds under the guise of freedom of expression; and domestic terrorist activities such as lone-wolf violent attacks to sow fear among local society and fuel hatred toward the central authorities and the HKSAR government, especially the Hong Kong Police Force. Separatists have not and will never abandon their pursuit of Hong Kong independence, which is why national security, peace and order, and public safety remain at risk, and the HKSAR must be on high alert at all times against any hostile attempt or plot.
The judiciary also plays a crucial role in National Security Law enforcement and must do everything necessary to prove its worth in this respect, including constant improvement of judicial protocols and standards as well as the code of conduct. As such, the Hong Kong Judicial Institute is obligated to begin immediately systematic training of all judges on administering justice according to existing national security codes. Meanwhile, the judiciary should also step up scrutiny of applications for legal aid as well as judicial review to prevent abuse of public resources and civil rights. There should be three judges instead of one in assessing applications for judicial review from now on.
The author is a current affairs commentator.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
