Hong Kong officials urged to speed up delivery of Article 23 security law to counter foreign interference

Tam Yiu-chung calls on Hong Kong government to deliver a long-shelved piece of local legislation on safeguarding national security before its current term expires next summer

Hong Kong must not be used by foreign forces as a base of subversion, says city’s sole delegate to China’s top legislative body

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Water-filled barricades surrounding the government’s headquarters in Admiralty have been removed. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 1:42pm, 3 Oct 2021Updated: 11:00pm, 3 Oct 2021

Hong Kong’s sole delegate to China’s top legislative body has urged the government to revive and complete a long-shelved piece of local legislation on safeguarding national security before its current term expires in June, even though the city’s leader has said her administration may not have enough time to do so.

National People’s Congress Standing Committee member Tam Yiu-chung on Sunday said while the national security law imposed by Beijing in June last year had restored social and political stability after the anti-government protest turmoil of 2019, the city was still duty bound to follow up by enacting Article 23 of its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

“I believe that the Article 23 legislation can be completed in the first half of next year,” Tam told a radio programme. “As an international city, Hong Kong must not be used by foreign forces as a base of subversion against the nation, or to endanger national security.”

His plea for urgency came as Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu revealed that authorities had removed barricades erected outside key public buildings as a security measure during the 2019 anti-government protests, including those at the city administration’s headquarters in Admiralty.

“The water-filled barriers outside the complex were removed to project Hong Kong’s original image as a safe city,” he wrote on his official blog.

“The government headquarters is the symbol of the city’s governing core, showing that Hong Kong is secure, stable and confident.”