National People's Congress Decision On Hong Kong National Security Legislation
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The Decision of the National People's Congress on Establishing and Improving the Legal System and Enforcement Mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to Safeguard National Security is a congressional resolution passed by the third session of the 13th National People's Congress on 28 May 2020. This resolution authorizes the
National People's Congress Standing Committee The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in s ...
to promulgate a national security law in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. According to the decision, the proposed national security law seeks to prevent external interference in Hong Kong's affairs, criminalise acts that threaten national security such as subversion and secession, allow the
State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...
to establish a national security agency in Hong Kong when necessary and require the
Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
to send the central government periodic reports on national security. The pan-democratic camp, legal professionals, human rights organisations and politicians abroad have criticised the decision as a threat to the "
one country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Deng Xiaoping developed the one country, two systems ...
" principle, the rule of law and civil liberties. In late May 2020, Chinese diplomat Xie Feng said that the laws would only target a minority of "troublemakers" who had endangered Chinese national security. Around the same time, Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee said regarding the Hong Kong situation that “terrorism is growing” and calls for Hong Kong independence had become more frequent, which necessitated the bill. Several Hong Kong government officials strove to reassure investors, with Financial Secretary Paul Chan writing on his blog that any harm to investor confidence was due to "misunderstanding" of the law.


Background and legal authority

The Hong Kong government in 2003 attempted to enact the
National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill 2003 National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill () was a proposed bill which aimed to amend the Crimes Ordinance, the Official Secrets Ordinance, and the Societies Ordinance, pursuant to the obligation imposed by Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, ...
to comply with the requirement under Article 23 of the
Basic Law A basic law is either a codified constitution, or in countries with uncodified constitutions, a law designed to have the effect of a constitution. The term ''basic law'' is used in some places as an alternative to "constitution" and may be inte ...
that it should enact national security legislation "on its own". However, the bill was abandoned after mass demonstrations. An extradition law amendment bill proposing to allow extradition to China was proposed in 2019, sparking the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, later to be withdrawn. The ''South China Morning Post'' reported that the central government of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
was of the view that the political climate in Hong Kong would preclude the passage of a bill under Article 23, and so resorted to enactment through the National People's Congress instead. Unlike the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill 2003, an ordinary piece of legislation submitted to the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
(LegCo) to comply with the constitutional requirements of Article 23 of the Basic Law to enact laws in that connection, the law whose enactment is authorised by the decision would be enacted by inclusion in Annex III, which does not require a vote in the LegCo. The constitutionality of the inclusion of such laws in Annex III, whilst defended in a press release by the Department of Justice and by some members of the legal community, has been disputed by the
Hong Kong Bar Association The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) is the professional regulatory body for barristers in Hong Kong. The Law Society of Hong Kong is the equivalent association for solicitors in Hong Kong. Jose-Antonio Maurellet is the current chairman of t ...
(HKBA). The dispute concerns what authority Article 18(3) of the Basic Law provides to the
Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
(NPCSC) of the National People's Congress. Article 18(3) provides for such enactments in cases concerning ''defence and foreign affairs, as well as other matters outside the limits of the autonomy of the Region''. The Department of Justice's press release, however, stated that "national security is outside the limits of the autonomy of the HKSAR". The HKBA responded that in view of Article 23 of the Basic Law, which requires Hong Kong ''inter alia'' to ''enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition'', ''national security'' is "within" the limits of Hong Kong's autonomy. The Department of Justice maintained nevertheless that Article 23 authorises national security legislation but "does not preclude" additional legislation by the Central Authorities.


Decision details

The decision, that may be translated from
Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...
as "Decision of the National People's Congress on Establishing and Perfecting the Legal System and Enforcement Mechanism of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to Maintain National Security" (), comprises 7 articles, the Chinese text was published by state papers on 28 May 2020. Article 1 restates the importance of
one country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Deng Xiaoping developed the one country, two systems ...
and the rule of law, and states that the "state" will "complete" legal and enforcement mechanisms to preserve national security. Article 2 says that the state will stop and punish "overseas forces' use of Hong Kong" for separatist, subversive or destructive activities. Article 3 states that maintaining China's sovereignty is Hong Kong's constitutional responsibility. It further requires Hong Kong to enact national security legislation "as soon as possible", and its executive, legislature and judiciary to "stop and punish conduct endangering national security". Article 4 requires Hong Kong to establish institutions to protect national security, and provides for a central government presence in Hong Kong to maintain national security. Article 5 requires regular reports from the Chief Executive of Hong Kong on national security. Article 6 authorises the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to draft a national security law, and then to include it in Annex III of the Basic Law. Article 7 provides that the decision as a whole shall take effect on promulgation.


Chronology


Decision

The decision to impose the new law was approved on 28 May 2020 by a vote of 2878 to 1, with 6 abstentions. The NPCSC was therefore authorised to draft the official text of a national security law, and to enact it by including it in the Annex III of the Hong Kong Basic Law; Beijing has said the process will be completed by an "early date". A draft law was submitted to the NPCSC and reviewed on its 19th session from 18 June 2020 to 20 June 2020, details of which were released by state-run
Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official State media, state news agency of the China, People's Republic ...
news agency on 20 June.


Published draft details of the preparing law

On 20 June 2020, after a three-day meeting of the Standing Committee – which had been tasked with preparing the new legislation –, ''Xinhua'' newspaper published draft details that the Standing Committee had elaborated: presumed settling China's security office in Hong Kong to monitor security, as well as rules about monitoring education regarding national security aspects, prime importance of China's government decisions above Hong Kong government: "If the local laws... are inconsistent with this Law, the provisions of this Law shall apply. The power to interpret this law belongs to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress."


Enactment

On 30 June 2020, the NPCSC unanimously passed the Hong Kong national security law, which was subsequently gazetted on the same day and officially came into force.


Official text of the security law published

The details of the new legislation were kept in secret, even Hong Kong's Chief Executive
Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years. After g ...
did not see it, until the new law was published only in Chinese language at 11 o'clock in the evening Beijing time on 30 June 2020. The new law in the Chinese language took effect immediately after publishing, the China's State paper Xinhua also supplied text, translated in English "for reference only" under title "The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region". The main articles of the new law can be paraphrased as follows: * Chinese government has to set up security office in Hong Kong with its own personnel; * The Hong Kong Chief Executive can designate incumbent judges to hear national security cases; * Foreign news media and organisations are to be closely monitored; * The Chinese government has the right to conduct trials behind closed doors in serious cases; * Article 29 must be in effect to prevent inciting hatred against the Chinese or local government; * Secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign countries is to be punished with imprisonment from 3 years to life; * Serious interruption or sabotage of electronic control systems for providing and managing public services such as water, electric power, gas, transport, may be considered as terrorism. Added details about Article 43 emerged after the meeting of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), headed by Carrie Lam, and were published on 6 July 2020; the added details state that: * Police can search a suspect's home without a warrant in case of urgency; * Police can ban a suspect from leaving Hong Kong; * Government can freeze assets of a suspect; * Government can monitor the web and ask
internet providers An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...
to remove information. The same day, 6 July 2020,
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
and
WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...
said they suspended requests from Hong Kong Government about user data.


Domestic responses


Protests

On 24 May 2020 a rally occurred to protest against the proposed security law. It was the biggest protest in Hong Kong since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. For the first time in two months, the police deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse the protesters. On 27 May 2020, protesters gathered again on the streets to protest against the proposed national security law and the national anthem bill, which underwent its second reading on that day. Demonstrations of varying scale occurred in different districts including
Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is list of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong, an area and Victoria Park, Hong Kong, a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern and the Wan Chai District, Wan Chai ...
, Central, and Mong Kok. Tear gas and pepper balls were fired and 360 people were arrested that day for unauthorised assembly and other charges.


Analysis of the change in Hong Kong protests

''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'''s China specialists Tania Branigan and Lily Kuo wrote that the protest movement in Hong Kong changed after the NPC announcement of the law, with the mood shifting to one where many Hong Kong protestors are willing and prepared to die for the cause of keeping Mainland Chinese influence out, and with calls to find an impactful and permanent solution to Mainland Chinese interference, rather than small-scale measures. A rare slogan, calling for complete independence rather than more control, became the unifying chant of the protests, while the concept of " laam chau" gained momentum. This is the ideology of taking Hong Kong down and dragging Mainland China with it. One protestor said: "If the Chinese army comes out, we will celebrate. The entire Hong Kong business environment will collapse. If they call the military here, it would ruin Hong Kong and also mainland China's economy".


Crimes committed

On 1 July 2021, a Hong Kong police officer barely survived a knife attack from Leung Kin-fai, a
Vitasoy Vitasoy () is a Hong Kong beverage company. It hosts a brand of beverages and desserts named '' Vita''. Founded in 1940, it now operates under the Vitasoy International Holdings Limited. Its headquarters are in Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hon ...
purchasing agent and former information officer for
Apple Daily ''Apple Daily'' ( zh, t=蘋果日報, j=ping4 gwo2 jat6 bou3) was a Chinese-language newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai and part of Next Media, ''Apple Daily'' was known for its sensational headlines, ...
. Leung later killed himself, and his suicide note expressed his hatred toward the police, opposition to the National Security Law, and intention to kill an officer. Some Hongkongers saw Leung as a martyr and offered flowers as tribute. The police officer underwent seven hours of surgery and was hospitalized for 19 days.


Economy and stock market

Losses of about 5% were recorded in on the
Hang Seng Index The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is a market-Capitalization-weighted index, capitalisation-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong adjusted for free float. It tracks and records daily changes in the largest stock listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exch ...
(the worst day since 2015), and some Japanese stocks also fell. Carrie Lam denied that the losses were due to the decision, attributing them to usual "ups and downs" in the market. China has sought to assure international investors that they will not be affected. Hang Seng Index regained lost ground a week later.


Migration

Some Hong Kong citizens began looking for ways to
emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
and leave Hong Kong, feeling that the law would fundamentally damage their rights of expression and freedom. 10 times the usual number of web searches about emigration were recorded after the decision was announced. The
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
ese government said that they would help anyone leaving Hong Kong find passage away; China threatened "all means" against Taiwan but also said violence would be a last resort. SCMP reported that after the decision on the law, the number of Hong Kong residents speaking to estate agents about properties in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
(UK) rose rapidly. One article compared it to the mass exodus seen before the 1997 handover, also saying that local estate agents were cutting the asking prices for Hong Kong properties to keep business. Another SCMP article noted that the British announcement of BNO extension plans likely contributed to the rise in searches for UK homes specifically, with properties in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
and
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
being especially desirable. It quoted an estate agent who said that the demand for UK properties had, over a few days, reached where it was at its peak during the 2019 protests and before the pandemic. Immigration agencies in Hong Kong also saw a jump in inquiries, with one company seeing "a four to fivefold increase in cases", citing a new urgency, with people asking for the visa that will be approved the fastest. Estate agencies report an increase in interest in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
for high net worth individuals, with families increasingly asking about the UK,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.


Statements


Supporters

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years. After g ...
said that the
Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
would fully cooperate with Beijing.
Andrew Leung Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen (; born 24 February 1951) is a Hong Kong politician who is the current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco), representing the Industrial (First) functional constituency. From October 2012 to Octobe ...
, the President of the LegCo, and Martin Liao, pro-establishment LegCo convener, also expressed support. Lam said that any national security law enacted would not affect the "legitimate rights and freedoms" of Hong Kong people, and said that its enactment by inclusion in Annex III of the Basic Law (see above) was entirely legitimate. Paul Kwong the
Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
and
Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...
of the
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (abbreviated SKH), also known as the Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopal), is the Anglican church in Hong Kong and Macao. It is the 38th Province of the Anglican Communion. It is also one of the major denominations ...
(the
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
province of Hong Kong), and , the president of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, called the decision a necessary move. Chen Daoxiang, the PLA commander in Hong Kong, said that his garrison would safeguard "national sovereignty and development interests", and that the national security law to be drafted and enacted under the decision was "conducive to deter separatist forces and external intervention". The New York Times reported that state media painted laws proposed by the decision as "necessary to protect the rule of the Communist Party" and were strongly supportive of the law.


Opponents

The Hong Kong Bar Association issued a statement raising two concerns as to the nature of the law proposed by the decision. First, the association suggested that consultation was inadequate and that there was no guarantee that any eventual law would comply with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...
, which is "entrenched in the Basic Law". Second, the presence of mainland Chinese security organs mooted by Article 4 of the Decision did not make clear whether their agents would be required to comply with Hong Kong law, or how their deployment could be compatible with Article 22(1) of the Basic Law, which proscribes interference in affairs administered by the HKSAR 'on its own'. On 6 June 2020, 17 out 18 District Councils unprecedentedly held a joint meeting to discuss the legislation of the national security law, with 329 out of 458 councillors attending. All 17 District Councils passed the motion to demand the withdrawal of the national security law. The convener Clarisse Yeung, who is also the chairwoman of the Wan Chai District Council, stated that the result of the meeting reflects the real public opinion in Hong Kong. Several members of the pan-democratic camp expressed concern. Lee Cheuk-yan said that the law could be used as an arbitrary "one-size-fits-all" charge against activists, citing
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
laureate
Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...
's prison sentence of 11 years for "inciting subversion". Tanya Chan, the convener of pro-democratic camp, commented that the drafted decision confirmed that Hong Kong is changing from "One country, Two systems" to "One country, One system", saying that the Chinese government is intervening in Hong Kong matters in all aspects. Social activist
Joshua Wong Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosisto, Demosistō until it disbanded following i ...
said that China was trying to sever the connections of Hong Kong with the international community.
Jimmy Sham Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit ( zh, t=岑子杰, j=sam4 zi2 git6; born 29 June 1987) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy and LGBT rights activist. He served as a convener for the pro-democracy organisation Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) until October 2020 and s ...
, convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, also attacked the law, comparing it to a "nuclear weapon".


International responses

Among other responses, the United States prominently announced that it would revoke Hong Kong's special trade status on 27 May. Pompeo called the NPCSC decision the "latest in a series of actions that fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms". On 19 June 2020, the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
adopted a resolution condemning
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
's unilateral introduction of the national security legislation in Hong Kong, and called for the finalization of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Mechanism, which could be used to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions, for example assets freezing, on Chinese officials responsible for the national security legislation.


See also

* Anti-Secession Law, similar law regarding Taiwan * 2014 NPCSC Decision on Hong Kong *
National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...
*
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in s ...
*
Hong Kong Basic Law The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). With nine chapters, 160 article ...
* Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 *
National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill 2003 National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill () was a proposed bill which aimed to amend the Crimes Ordinance, the Official Secrets Ordinance, and the Societies Ordinance, pursuant to the obligation imposed by Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, ...
* Emergency Regulations Ordinance


References


External links


English translation: Full text: ''Law on safeguarding national security in HKSAR''
{{HKafter1997 2020 in Hong Kong 2020 in law Politics of Hong Kong Hong Kong national security law