Article 23 national security law in Hong Kong could help win more democracy, government adviser Ronny Tong says
Suggestion dismissed by opposition figures, who say democracy must come before security law
An adviser to Hong Kong’s leader on Tuesday renewed his call for the city to enact national security legislation in stages, in exchange for Beijing’s approval of more democracy locally.
But Ronny Tong Ka-wah’s suggestion was dismissed by a member of the opposition Democratic Party, Senia Ng Sze-nok, who argued that Hong Kong should be allowed more democracy first, before making its own law to protect national security.
Ng, a 29-year-old barrister who is not a party official, was appointed in March as a member of the Youth Development Commission, a high-level advisory body chaired by the city’s No 2 official, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung.
The Hong Kong government shelved its Article 23 bill in 2003 after half a million people took to the streets to oppose it, fearing an erosion of civil liberties.