Hong Kong leader John Lee has said the Chinese territory will introduce its own national security law in 2024, four years after Beijing imposed sweeping legislation that critics say has “decimated” freedoms.
The Chinese law was introduced after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in protests that began over an extradition bill with the mainland and evolved into demands for greater democracy and political freedom, sometimes turning violent.
The broadly worded Beijing law bypassed the local legislature and made acts of secession, subversion, “terrorism” and collusion with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison.
In his second annual policy address, Lee said some countries were still trying to undermine Hong Kong.
He did not elaborate.
“We must guard against those who seek to provoke conflict, misinform or spread rumours through various channels, and remain vigilant against acts of “soft resistance” in various forms that may undermine the governance of our country and the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region),” he said.
Lee, a former top cop who was security chief during the 2019 protests, added that the government was “pushing forward” with effective legislative options on security and would “complete the legislative exercise in 2024 to fulfil our constitutional duty”.
Under the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – Hong Kong was supposed to enact its own law, known as Article 23, to tackle seven security-related crimes, including treason and espionage.
Successive administrations have failed to implement the law, with the last attempt abandoned in 2003 after half a million Hong Kong people took to the streets in protest.
Beijing’s Security Law has all but silenced criticism, with pro-democracy politicians and activists forced into exile and civil society groups and critical media outlets shut down.
According to Hong Kong’s Security Bureau, 280 people had been arrested and 30 convicted under the law by the end of September.
Since 2019, Hong Kong’s political system has also been overhauled, with new rules introduced to ensure that only ‘patriots’ can run for office, with candidates having to be ‘vetted’ before being allowed to stand.
A “national security education day” has also been introduced, with children as young as six being taught the “great importance” of the legislation, which supporters say has restored “order” to the city.
Lee said patriotic education would be further developed “to strengthen national identity”.
A working group will be set up to “push forward national education and align it with the Patriotic Education Law of the People’s Republic of China”.
His announcement came a day after Beijing passed a law to strengthen patriotic education for children and families.
Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy and the continuation of its way of life for at least 50 years when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.