Beijing official unaware of any move to resurrect security bill
A senior Beijing official in Hong Kong said he was unaware of any plans to revive national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law, amid intensifying speculation that the issue is about to reappear.
But Hao Tiechuan, director general of the department of publicity, cultural and sports affairs at the central government's liaison office, said while the news media should monitor government, priority should be given during social unrest to helping authorities resolve crises.
Speaking at a lunch meeting of the Hong Kong Journalists Association - an ice-breaking event and the first time a senior Beijing official had been invited as a guest - Hao was asked to comment on speculation that attempts to enact a security law would soon be revived.
'I note there were newspaper reports about the national security legislation but I personally have not given a thought to this issue,' he said.
When pressed again, Hao said: 'Both you and I learn from newspaper reports about discussion and speculation on legislative work to enact Article 23. Apart from that, I haven't had other information.' This was the first time any official from the central or Hong Kong government had commented on the topic. Recently, intensifying rumours have suggested that Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is under pressure to revive the controversial bill, shelved in 2003 after half a million people protested against it.
Mainland researchers have recently increased efforts to sample public opinion in Hong Kong, and some have said the central government is concerned that reintroduction of the bill could destabilise a political truce, secured as a result of Beijing's deal with the Democratic Party over constitutional reform.
Hao, who in June dismissed the party's compromise reform package as an 'unnecessary addition' without legal basis days before the deal was reached, sidestepped questions on whether he had blundered with a Chinese nursery rhyme.
'When two little goats approach the middle of a bridge spanning a river, both will fall into the river if neither is willing to budge,' he said, without elaborating. 'I think you won't want me to be the goat falling into river.'
In a speech on legal issues which journalists face when covering crises and social unrest, Hao said the international norm was for governments to control press freedom in the public interest, although recognising the rights of the fourth estate.
'In time of crises in social order, resolution of the crisis and restoration of order is the top priority,' he said. 'Assisting the government in crisis management measures is the top priority of the media and monitoring the government comes second,' he said.
But association chairwoman Mak Yin-ting told journalists after the meeting: 'The mission of journalists is to inform the public under any circumstances.' However, she welcomed the dialogue between the liaison office and journalists.
