The national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" play a vital role in safeguarding social and political stability, according to Lawrence Ma, chairman of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation.
In a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Ma said the national security law introduced new offenses such as treason to deter unrest like the 2019 turmoil.
"The central government after enacting the national security law, leaves the administration of the law to Hong Kong itself. For example, Hong Kong police, Hong Kong prosecutors, Hong Kong judges were involved in the entire investigation and trial of Mr. Jimmy Lai," he said.
"After the national security law being enacted by the National People's Congress in 2020, Hong Kong has enacted in 2024 an ordinance. In Hong Kong, we have got court ordinance, the safeguarding national security ordinance and that modernized the offenses of treason at first. And secondly it introduced a few new offenses. For example, the first one is the theft of state secrets and espionage. The second new offense is sabotage, which means that damaging public infrastructure. The third new offense is sedition, which means that people who are inciting hatred or disaffection against the government would be liable. And these new offenses and modernization of all offenses are the efforts made by the Hong Kong government after the enactment of the national security law in 2020," Ma added.
He stressed the significance of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," which requires scrutiny of government staff before appointment.
"People who read Hong Kong history and know Hong Kong politics before the national security law, would know that the Legislative Council in Hong Kong was full of people who were proxies of foreign powers. They're not here to better off Hong Kong. They were wholeheartedly wanting to overthrow the Hong Kong government to destabilize the government. Patriots Administering Hong Kong is important because it ensures whoever wants to get appointed in the government office or elected in the government office would have to undergo a scrutiny to make sure they were not proxies of foreign powers and therefore it is very very important for political stability of the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong Legislative Council," said Ma.
China's State Council Information Office on Tuesday released a white paper titled "Hong Kong: Safeguarding China's National Security Under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems." Consisting of five parts in addition to a preface and a conclusion, the white paper details the unrelenting fight for safeguarding national security in Hong Kong and the central government's fundamental responsibility for national security matters concerning Hong Kong.
It also expounds on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)'s achievements in fulfilling its constitutional responsibility for safeguarding national security, Hong Kong's transition from disorder to stability and prosperity, and efforts in creating high-standard security for high-quality development of the One Country, Two Systems policy.
HK national security law, patriots principle vital to safeguarding stability: legal expert
