Hong Kong will create its own national security law in 2024, chief executive John Lee said on Wednesday (25 October). The move comes four years after Beijing imposed sweeping legislation aimed at silencing dissent.
In his annual policy address, Lee said: “The government is pushing forward to draft effective legislative options and will complete the legislative process in 2024.”
In 2019, Hong Kong was rocked by pro-democracy protests. Protests also erupted in other parts of the world. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets demanding greater freedoms and autonomy from China.
But Beijing responded by imposing a national security law to punish four major crimes – secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Sentences ranged up to life imprisonment.
China introduced the National Security Law for Hong Kong in 2020. The law made it easier for Beijing to prosecute protesters and gave the nation unprecedented powers to shape life in Hong Kong, with critics calling it “the end of Hong Kong”.
Lee, who was security chief, said the government would “continue to safeguard national security and improve the relevant legal system and enforcement mechanisms”.
Hong Kong’s Basic Law requires it to make its own laws to deal with seven security-related crimes, including treason and espionage.
This task, often described by the city’s government as a “constitutional responsibility”, has yet to be fulfilled. The last attempt at legislation in 2003 was shelved after half a million Hong Kongers took to the streets in protest.
Lee focuses on economy and security
In his speech, Lee focused on the property market and stabilising the ailing economy. Lee said Hong Kong’s economy, which contracted by 3.5 per cent last year, would “resume growth this year” as inbound tourism and consumption improved and unemployment fell.
Hong Kong’s economy grew 2.2 per cent in the first half of the year and is expected to grow four per cent year-on-year this year.
Lee noted, however, that the external environment remains challenging with interest rate hikes in some advanced economies, which has had a “negative impact” on Hong Kong’s investment and asset markets.