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Absconders likely to be first target as Hong Kong’s Article 23 domestic national security law takes effect
- Justice minister Paul Lam and security chief Chris Tang address range of public concerns over new law in interview with the Post
- Tang says he might soon designate ‘relevant absconders’ with the chief executive laying out subsidiary legislation covering implementation of penalties
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Absconders are likely to be the first target of Hong Kong’s new domestic national security law that came into force at midnight on Saturday, with sanctions among penalties they will face under its subsidiary legislation, key ministers behind the enactment told the Post.
But they vowed that the government would not use the power to create ancillary legislation as a back door to draft new offences under the ordinance and pledged to maintain the city’s “excellent” freedom of speech.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu signed the bill for the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance on Friday, nearly 27 years after the city’s return to Chinese rule and finally enacting the constitutionally mandated legislation that spanned a sea change in the political landscape of Hong Kong.
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“From tomorrow on, the national security of the … [city] will be more effectively safeguarded, allowing Hong Kong to move forward without worries or burden,” Lee said.
The legislation introduced new offences and updated others to supplement those set out in the national security law Beijing imposed in 2020 following often violent protests that had wracked the city the year before.
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