When the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) enacted the National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China in 2015, Article 14 stipulated that, henceforth, April 15 would be the National Security Education Day (NSED). Its purpose was to publicize and promote the idea of holistic national security, and this has taken place annually ever since.
Once the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law (NSL) was enacted on June 30, 2020, it was decided that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region would hold its own annual NSED, also on April 15. The first NSED was hosted by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) on April 15, 2021. It aimed to “enhance the national security awareness of all Hong Kong citizens, create a strong atmosphere for safeguarding national security, and enhance the ability to prevent and resist security risks”.
Although the NSED highlights and spurs educational efforts, those initiatives are ongoing throughout the year at various levels. For example, the Endeavour Education Centre, whose management committee is chaired by the former Legislative Council president, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, is contracted by the HKSAR government to enhance young people’s understanding of the nation and its security. It hosts training sessions commissioned by the Education Bureau on the Constitution, the Basic Law, and the city’s two national security laws. The training sessions are designed to equip teachers, principals, and school management committee members with a better understanding of these issues, which they can then share with students.
Also operating, often under the radar, are the teachers trained by the Department of Justice to become “ambassadors”. They are responsible for promoting an understanding of the legal system and the rule of law in the schools on a regular basis (including arranging patriotic activities). They belong to a new initiative called the “Rule of Law Education (ROLE) Stars Train-the-Leaders Program”. By March, 40 ROLE ambassadors had undergone training on the Basic Law, the Constitution, and national security legislation. In turn, ROLE ambassadors are supported by student ambassadors, who, under the guidance of educational authorities, promote patriotic values among their peers.
Indeed, the NSL imposes a constitutional responsibility on the SAR to safeguard national security and to conduct national security education to enhance awareness among Hong Kong residents. On Wednesday, the opening ceremony for the sixth NSED was held at the HKCEC. Like its predecessors, it focused on public awareness and national identity.
At the opening ceremony, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, urged everyone to remain alert to security risks that affect the SAR’s prosperity and stability. The risks could come from internal or external actors, and geopolitical dangers had to be safeguarded against. Security was not only the cornerstone of the city’s prosperity and stability but the foundation of its development.
The NSL and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) of 2024 are still new laws, and are being gradually bedded down. Although foreign critics have sought to demonize them, they are largely aligned with national security laws in other countries. Once residents understand them, they will enjoy public acceptance, which is important for any law in a free society. If people appreciate the rationale and necessity of the two laws, they will recognize foreign propaganda for what it is. This was acknowledged by the NPCSC from the outset, which is why the NSL requires the SAR to “take necessary measures to strengthen public communication, guidance, supervision and regulation over matters concerning national security” (Art 9).
What people should appreciate is that their welfare, including livelihoods, depends on a stable environment. In other words, their prosperity depends on national security. When the insurrection broke out in 2019, the economy took a massive hit, with jobs being lost and businesses collapsing. This is undoubtedly why the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) emphasizes development and security, with safeguarding national security as imperative under the “one country, two systems” policy.
Although some have suggested there is a surfeit of national security education, this misses the point. Far from being overkill, the existing arrangements are essential if the SAR’s capitalist system and way of life (guaranteed under the Basic Law) are to endure. Threats are ever-present, some subtle, and no sector can count itself immune. Risks exist throughout society, and every feasible measure must be taken to eliminate weaknesses in the SAR’s defensive armor. And in this regard the SAR is fortunate to have a listening government. If people on the ground, including teachers, white-collar workers, and professionals, become aware of emerging dangers, the authorities will welcome any alerts they can provide.
As anybody who lived through the insurrection of 2019-20 will recall, there are no lengths to which those who wish China ill are not prepared to go. In their determination to harm the country, they (and their foreign backers) had no compunction in trying to wreck the SAR. Although those days are gone, hopefully forever, there is no room for complacency. While depleted and more cunning, the anti-China forces are still lurking in the shadows. They could mobilize at any time, either of their own volition or, as in 2019, upon instruction from afar. They are always seeking opportunities to create mayhem and stoke tensions (through soft resistance, false narratives or otherwise), and constant vigilance is unavoidable.
The NSED 2026 was heavily influenced by the white paper on safeguarding national security under the “one country, two systems” framework, issued by the State Council Information Office (Feb 10). Although it emphasized that security is the foundation of social stability and the safeguard of people’s well-being, there was much more to it.
The white paper contained positive messages that should be highlighted by everyone involved in promoting national security education in future. It stressed the importance of respecting human rights when safeguarding national security and noted that excessive zeal by law enforcers could be counterproductive. A balance between security and rights is required, and the SAR is achieving it. If people understand that their basic rights (including the right to a fair trial) are unaffected by the enactment of the national security laws, this will undoubtedly allay the concerns that some harbor (and silence the critics).
The white paper will be greatly welcomed by everybody who values the rule of law, underpinned as it is by an independent Judiciary. It states unequivocally that “Hong Kong will continue to employ judges and other judicial professionals from other common law areas, and its Court of Final Appeal will continue to invite such judges to participate in trials as needed”. Moreover, lawyers from elsewhere would continue to practice law in Hong Kong, and the “lawful rights and interests of investors from all countries and regions will continue to receive equal protection”. In other words, there will be no changes in the SAR’s legal arrangements going forward, which is as welcome a message as can be imagined.
If, moreover, residents appreciate that the national security laws are being applied with great restraint, this will also be reassuring. For example, as of March 1, only 206 individuals and six companies had been prosecuted for national security offenses since 2020. In a population of approximately 7.5 million people, this figure is minuscule. and shows that prosecution, contrary to foreign claims, is being used as a tool of last resort.
However, as in other jurisdictions, national security is a work in progress. The legislation must be comprehensive and requires regular updating. Nothing would give China’s antagonists greater satisfaction than seeing the SAR putting its feet up on the national security front, or hearing it say “job done”.
The author is a senior counsel and law professor, and was previously the director of public prosecutions of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
