Hong Kong officials say HK$8 billion earmarked for national security has nothing to do with Beijing’s office in the city, but remain tight-lipped on details

Financial Secretary Paul Chan has declined to elaborate on how the money will be spent, saying the expenditure ‘has a certain degree of confidentiality’

Chan did not mention the money in his annual budget speech on Wednesday, and it was only stated in a separate 1,000-page budget document

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Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security (pictured) is not the recipient of HK$8 billion earmarked for security funding, the government has maintained. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 4:35pm, 25 Feb 2021Updated: 5:38pm, 25 Feb 2021

The HK$8 billion (US$1 billion) earmarked in the government’s latest budget for safeguarding national security has nothing to do with Beijing’s office in Hong Kong charged with the same task, but details of how the money will be spent are “confidential”, officials have said.

One day after it was revealed that the government had set aside the amount for national security purposes, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Thursday remained tight-lipped about the sum. Chan did not mention the money in his annual budget speech on Wednesday, but the funding was stated in a separate 1,000-page budget document that listed the estimated revenues and expenditures of various government accounts.

Chan refused to disclose when appearing on a radio programme how the HK$8 billion would be spent, but dismissed the suggestion that the expenditure was equivalent to “military spending”, reiterating only that it was a necessary expense.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan attends a joint radio phone-in programme on Thursday. Photo: Felix Wong

“[Some] may say that Hong Kong is very safe and we do not need to spend money on this area, [but] in 2019 we experienced half a year of social unrest. Such circumstances exposed the gaps in national security. This HK$8 billion will be used over a number of years … it is necessary,” he said.

Chan said relevant reports on national security expenditure would be submitted to the Legislative Council within the year.