This file photo dated July 14, 2020 shows the Golden Bauhinia Square in south China's Hong Kong. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - Since the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government began consulting the public on the legislation of Article 23 of the HKSAR Basic Law, certain individuals in and outside of Hong Kong have been unnerved by the legislative effort and launched campaigns to slander and vilify it.

Their reason is simple: The legislation of Article 23 targets a small number of people who are anti-China disruptors and, unsurprisingly, certain people have shown fear and gone out of their way to obstruct it.

These anti-China disruptors know well how much chaos they have brought to the country and Hong Kong, particularly during the turmoil of 2019

These anti-China disruptors know well how much chaos they have brought to the country and Hong Kong, particularly during the turmoil of 2019. They feel nothing but panic and fear when they realize that once the legislation is completed, they will no longer be able to get away with vicious acts undermining national security and the stability of Hong Kong, and they will have to face court trials and due penalties.

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Although some of these anti-China disruptors pay lip service to the "one country, two systems" principle, they are in fact resisting the reality that Hong Kong has already returned to the motherland. Once legal loopholes are plugged by the legislation of Article 23, they will have nowhere to hide with their "Hong Kong independence" propaganda and sedition attempts.

In the past, these individuals have colluded with external anti-China forces to disrupt Hong Kong and contain China. They have served as "proxies" and "pawns" for external anti-China forces to instigate a "color revolution" in Hong Kong and use Hong Kong to infiltrate and sabotage the mainland. When their bonds with these foreign forces are severed by the legislation of Article 23, they will have no foreign masters to cling to.

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Undoubtedly, those nefarious forces attempting to sabotage China's national security and the stability of Hong Kong are and should be scared of the legislation of Article 23. Their attempts to thwart Hong Kong's evolution from the restoration of order to a thriving region are doomed to fail.