Hong Kong has strongly condemned comments made by UK-based NGO Hong Kong Watch and dozens of other activist groups on the impending new security law, after they said the legislation would bring “further devastating consequences” for human rights in the city.
The government said on Tuesday night that the groups had made “skewed remarks” that authorities were undermining human rights with the upcoming enactment of legislation under Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution.
“The joint statement smacks of deliberate smears and is no further from the truth,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.
The authorities’ condemnation followed the publication of a statement opposing the legislation of its own national security law by Hong Kong Watch. Signed by groups based in countries including the US, UK and Canada, it said the proposed provisions were vague and would result in criminalising free expression.
“The proposed law includes a number of procedural changes that will dramatically undermine the Hong Kong people’s due process and fair trial rights,” the joint statement read.
Under Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law, Hong Kong is to enact a domestic security law to criminalise offences endangering national security. Colloquially known as Article 23, the law is separate from the Beijing-imposed national security legislation.
“The introduction of Article 23 will bring further devastating consequences for human rights beyond those brought by the National Security Law when it was imposed by Beijing in 2020,” the Hong Kong Watch statement added.
The national security law, which criminalised secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, was enacted in the wake of the protests in 2019. Independent media outlets and scores of civil society groups have shuttered since, while dozens of activists – including former lawmakers and media mogul Jimmy Lai – have spent years in detention awaiting court proceedings.
Authorities have maintained that the national security law restored stability to the city, but that it was still necessary to enact further legislation under Article 23 to plug “loopholes.” According to the public consultation document, the proposed new law covers five types of crime: treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage endangering national security, and external interference.
It is expected to be passed within the year by the Legislative Council, which lost its opposition after the government overhauled election rules, introducing candidate screenings and nomination requirements.
‘Repression has a cost’
Opposition to Article 23 locally has been muted, with protests effectively barred under Beijing’s national security law. Lawmakers and business groups have endorsed the law and called it in line with international practices.
Foreign governments have also not reacted to the impending legislation. Last week, government advisor Regina Ip said “not a single country has issued a statement” since authorities published a 110-page paper as part of a month-long public consultation.
In its statement, the overseas activist groups said they urged countries to “publicly oppose the introduction of Article 23” and impose sanctions on officials responsible for pushing it.
“They need to send a clear and strong message to the Chinese government that repression has a cost,” the statement read.
In response, the Hong Kong government said the statement “squarely reflects the ongoing national security threats which anti-China and destabilising forces pose.”
The groups calls could potentially amount to the offence of foreign collusion under the Beijing-imposed national security law, the government added.
The public consultation period, which began on January 30, will end on February 28. During the previous attempt to legislate Article 23 in 2003, authorities offered a three-month consultation period which drew over 90,000 submissions.
Chief Executive John Lee said on Tuesday that the “majority” of people who had shared their opinions on the impending security law had given positive feedback.
“The general opinion gives me the impression that [the public] are in support of the overall goal of enacting Article 23 to ensure that we protect ourselves when people want to cause damage to us,” he said in Cantonese.
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