Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie has pledged to stand up to Beijing if it wants Hong Kong to pass laws on sedition and subversion which breach international safeguards on human rights.
Ms Leung said there would be a need to 'persuade and explain' if mainland officials disagreed with the government on the legislation to be put in place under Article 23 of the Basic Law. But she doubted whether there would be a major difference of opinion.
'The ultimate decision is with the [Hong Kong] government. If Beijing views that as not the right provision, we would have to explain. If we feel it is the right provision, but Beijing does not agree with it, I believe it is our responsibility to explain to the central people's government and to persuade [it] that this would fulfil the purpose of Article 23,' Ms Leung told the South China Morning Post.
This would arise if Beijing wanted laws in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, she said. 'We would have to explain to Beijing that we cannot legislate in accordance with their opinions. But I doubt very much whether this will happen. I doubt there will be a big difference between Hong Kong's views and the views of the central people's government.'
It is understood that some of the key issues have already been thrashed out in meetings between Hong Kong and mainland officials. A Department of Justice source said Ms Leung had taken a strong stand.
'Her relations with Chinese officials are not as good as many people expect. You won't believe [how], in a closed-door meeting with those officials in Beijing, she fought very hard for the interests of Hong Kong people,' the source said.
Ms Leung would not reveal the content of discussions with the mainland, saying only that the exchanges had been 'very useful'.
