The release of the white paper “Hong Kong: Safeguarding China’s National Security Under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems” by the State Council Information Office on Tuesday, one day after Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was sentenced to 20 years in prison, in effect signals the formal end of the long period of turmoil in Hong Kong since its return to China.
But the increasingly complex international situation means that the country and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will continue to face various conventional and nonconventional national security threats from hostile forces. Therefore, safeguarding national security is a challenge that both the central government and the SAR must remain prepared to address. China’s determination to safeguard national security is beyond doubt. Any hostile forces, whether internal or external, that dare to cross the line will be met with a crushing blow. These are precisely the messages that the white paper aims to convey.
The white paper emphasizes that national security is the cornerstone of the successful implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle. Nevertheless, during the period from the 1997 handover until the implementation of the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law (NSL) in 2020, Hong Kong experienced a severe vacuum in its legal system for safeguarding national security. Article 23 of the Basic Law could not be enacted due to various obstructions from internal and external hostile forces, resulting in a lack of strong protection for national security. To rectify the situation and turn the tide, central authorities resolutely enacted the NSL in 2020, rescuing Hong Kong from its unprecedented crisis. Hong Kong quickly restored the rule of law and order and achieved significant progress politically, economically, and socially.
The white paper emphasizes that Hong Kong is a region of China; therefore, the central government bears fundamental responsibility and enjoys corresponding powers in safeguarding national security. However, Hong Kong remains responsible for guarding the nation’s “southern gateway”. In trust of Hong Kong residents, the central government delegated the task of safeguarding national security to Hong Kong through Article 23 of the Basic Law. If Hong Kong fails to fulfill its responsibilities, the central government, to ensure national security and accountability to its citizens, will have to step in and exercise the powers granted by the Constitution and the Basic Law. Since the implementation of the NSL, Western politicians and mainstream media have repeatedly accused Beijing of deviating from the “one country, two systems” principle, eroding Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and whatnot. These malicious criticisms not only demonstrate their ignorance of the “one country, two systems” policy and reflect a deliberate attempt to treat Hong Kong as an “independent political entity” but also reveal their sinister intention to tarnish the international reputations of China and its HKSAR.
Since the implementation of the NSL, Western politicians and mainstream media have repeatedly accused Beijing of deviating from the “one country, two systems” principle, eroding Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and whatnot. These malicious criticisms not only demonstrate their ignorance of the “one country, two systems” policy and reflect a deliberate attempt to treat Hong Kong as an “independent political entity” but also reveal their sinister intention to tarnish the international reputations of China and its HKSAR
The white paper provides detailed clarification and forcefully refutes such misconceptions and misinterpretation, noting that the central government bears the fundamental responsibility for maintaining national security in all local administrative regions under its jurisdiction as clearly stipulated in the nation’s Constitution, the Basic Law, the Law of the PRC on Garrisoning the HKSAR, and the National Security Law of the PRC.
It further points out that when the HKSAR, confronted with the most severe challenge to national security, found it unable to enact relevant legislation on its own, the central government’s exercise of its constitutional power to legislate for national security at the State level became both imperative and urgent.
In fact, the central government ultimately enacted the NSL under duress, forced to do so by hostile internal and external forces that had committed numerous atrocities in Hong Kong. Western politicians and media deliberately avoid this plain fact.
The white paper emphasizes that giving top priority to political security is crucial to China’s national security in the new era. Since Hong Kong’s return, several serious political struggles have erupted, aimed at challenging, weakening, and dividing the HKSAR government. The 2019 “black-clad riots” were a Hong Kong version of a “color revolution”, with the clear aim of overthrowing the government and seizing power. Therefore, the main objective of the NSL is not only to curb hostile forces but also to prevent the HKSAR government from falling into their hands. After cracking down on and eliminating the hostile forces, the HKSAR government reformed the city’s electoral system to prevent anti-China agitators from entering the HKSAR’s governance structure and to ensure that the government remains firmly in the hands of patriots.
With the NSL, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance enacted under Article 23 of the Basic Law, and other relevant local laws, Hong Kong has established a relatively effective legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding national security. However, these laws are largely designed to address traditional national security threats. With technological advancements, the weaponization of finance and trade, and the emergence of new forms of warfare and conflict, such as “gray zone” warfare, nontraditional national security threats are increasing and becoming more widely employed. As the international landscape becomes increasingly treacherous and complex, the risk of various wars rises dramatically, and the intentions and efforts of the United States and its allies to contain China, including the HKSAR, continue to intensify, both the nation and the HKSAR are compelled to confront an increasing number of unconventional threats. Hong Kong, the white paper cautions, should “always stay vigilant on matters of national security, a lesson learned from the 2019 turmoil”.
As a highly open international metropolis and facing suppression and smear campaigns from the US and its allies, Hong Kong will face more unconventional threats in the future. The white paper therefore calls for greater attention to security in unconventional areas such as finance, shipping, trade, and the protection of overseas interests.
I opine that Hong Kong needs to work harder on maintaining cybersecurity, infrastructure security, ideological security, communications security, handling trade and tariff wars, responding to technological blockades, forestalling international terrorism, dealing with economic sanctions, dealing with the freezing or confiscation of overseas assets, and addressing the weaponization of infectious diseases and artificial intelligence.
While making every effort to safeguard national security, Hong Kong must also maintain a free, open, and inclusive development and investment environment, the white paper urges. It further emphasizes that national security bears on the security of everyone and concerns the well-being of all residents and foreign investors, and that Hong Kong’s endeavors in safeguarding national security are not aimed at pursuing “absolute” or “generalized” security. Accordingly, Hong Kong must continually improve its investment environment, particularly in protecting investors’ interests and creating additional investment opportunities. As a world-class free port, Hong Kong cannot seek “absolute security” at the expense of its trading partners. Only in this way can Hong Kong inject certainty and stability into the currently turbulent world and attract capital and talent from far and wide.
To conclude, the white paper’s declaration of the central government’s stance and practices on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong, its description of the national security threats Hong Kong faces, and its guidance on how Hong Kong can handle development and security simultaneously are of great strategic significance for Hong Kong’s future governance and progress.
The author is a professor emeritus of sociology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a consultant for the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
