Hong Kong’s security chief has said that rights and freedoms will be protected after the local Article 23 security law is enacted next year, echoing assurances previously given about the 2020 national security law.
Chris Tang said on Sunday that only a few who endanger national security will be affected, and Article 23 will otherwise have no impact on daily life, businesses or journalists’ work.
Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that the government shall enact laws on its own to prohibit acts of treason, secession, sedition and subversion against Beijing. Its legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests and it was not tabled again until after the onset of the separate, Beijing-imposed security law in 2020. Pro-democracy advocates fear it could have a negative effect on civil liberties.
“No matter whether it is the national security law, or the upcoming Article 23 legislation, we will definitely safeguard people’s freedom of speech in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or other international covenants,” Tang said in Cantonese on Commercial Radio according to RTHK.
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New Hong Kong security law will not affect freedoms, and won’t be retroactive, security chief says
