Hong Kong national security laws must be continually improved: ex-Beijing official
City ‘cannot put a full stop’ in improving legislation to address risks, Wang Zhenmin says, while highlighting harsher laws in US, UK and Singapore
Hong Kong’s national security laws must be continually improved to address risks and close loopholes amid geopolitical tensions, a former senior mainland Chinese official overseeing the city’s affairs has said, while insisting they are less stringent than those in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Wang Zhenmin, former bureau chief of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Office (HKMAO), made the remarks at a seminar organised by the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, where mainland legal experts discussed ongoing security developments.
“Building a national security legal system in any country is a long process. It is not something that can be completed by enacting a single law once and for all. Whenever loopholes are discovered, legislation must be introduced promptly,” said Wang, a law professor at Tsinghua University and vice-president of the think tank.
“Hong Kong’s improvement of national security legislation is also an ongoing process and will not be completed … we cannot put a full stop on it.”
The seminar, titled “Safeguard high-quality development through high-level security”, was attended by more than 300 lawmakers, district councillors, and representatives from the legal sector and wider community.