Ex-Hong Kong minister doubles down on warning national security law can be ‘weaponised’ by any side

Former secretary for transport and housing Anthony Cheung argues he earlier mentioned the risk only as a precaution and did not mean abuse had happened

He points to other countries with their own strict legislation and how events had shaped the way governments used national security regulation

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A man walks past a banner promoting the national security law in Central. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 11:00am, 20 Aug 2020Updated: 11:21am, 20 Aug 2020

A former Hong Kong minister has doubled down on his warning the national security law could be “weaponised” for unrelated issues, saying risks could come from both the government and the opposition.

Former secretary for transport and housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung told the Post on Wednesday he had only sounded a reminder of the potential risk of the controversial law being abused. He was speaking a day after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor rejected his earlier comments.

“I didn’t say the abuse of the law has happened,” Cheung said. It’s just a precautionary note.”

Now a research chair professor of public administration at Education University, Cheung said the law was supposed to tackle extreme acts that endangered national security.

“The government should invoke the national security law sparingly and instead use other existing legislation to make arrests or prosecution as far as possible,” he said.

Former transport and housing minister Anthony Cheung. Photo: Jonathan Wong