National security law for Hong Kong to boost ‘one country, two systems’ and ensure freedoms beyond 2047: top official in most candid comments yet from Beijing
- HKMAO deputy chief Zhang Xiaoming’s webinar marked the most detailed explanation so far from a high-ranking Beijing official on controversial law
- In a rare admission, Zhang also identified city’s problems as political rather than economic
Contrary to alarmist warnings of the opposition and foreign powers eager to demonise the central government, the new legislation would target “very few” people committing the four crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign intervention, said Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO).
The vast majority of Hong Kong people, meanwhile, would have peace and order restored in the city, and their rights and freedoms better protected from negative elements, such as those behind violent protests, those demanding independence and others who colluded with foreign powers.
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Hong Kong’s national security law is like ‘anti-virus software’, top Beijing official says
In dealing with such “destructive forces”, Zhang said, the new law was enlarging the space for the one country, two systems principle and this in turn would ensure the country’s leadership would support it being continued beyond 2047, when the model was due to expire.
“Many people in Hong Kong have been thinking about the future of one country, two systems after 2047. We also need to think of this: what kind of record is Hong Kong going to bring, to win a new mandate from the National People’s Congress (NPC), and the Chinese people that it represents at that time,” said Zhang, one of seven deputy directors of the State Council-level office and a member of the leading group on the city’s affairs.
Zhang said the stronger the commitment to national security, the more room there would be for the one country, two systems principle.
His comments, delivered at a webinar accessible to all Hongkongers rather than the usual select circle of pro-establishment politicians, marked the most candid and comprehensive explanation yet from a high-ranking official on the need for the controversial national security legislation.