In this file photo dated Sept 23, 2022, the national and HKSAR flags fly high in Tsim Sha Tsui. (ANDY CHONG/ CHINA DAILY)

Local legislation on Article 23 of the Basic Law for Hong Kong will be completed this year or next year at the latest, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu revealed in a recent media interview.

He said that the timetable for the enactment of Article 23 has been set, and he will definitely finish the task in his term of office.

Article 23 of the Basic Law requires the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to enact laws on its own to prohibit seven categories of acts that endanger national security, including treason, sedition, subversion and theft of State secrets.

Some of the crimes are already covered by the National Security Law for Hong Kong, which took effect on June 30, 2020, prohibiting secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security.

Article 23 of the Basic Law requires the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to enact laws on its own to prohibit seven categories of acts that endanger national security, including treason, sedition, subversion and theft of State secrets

Lee explained that enactment of Article 23 of the Basic Law will help to achieve the long-term stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, in the hope that the whole process of enactment will be taken seriously and that it can be a great law.

He has requested government departments, including the Security Bureau and the Department of Justice, to make reference to how common law jurisdictions have legislated previously in this field.

Lee stressed that the local legislation should refer primarily to all the effective methods of cracking down on the crimes, and then consider how to apply them in Hong Kong.

Lee added that the emergence of new criminal methods on the Internet has led to the updating of related laws in overseas countries, such as proposed new laws in Britain to safeguard national security. “Such new developments also put new requirements on our handling of national security risks,” Lee said.

ALSO READ: Tang: HK aims to complete Article 23 legislation by 2024

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convener of the Executive Council in Hong Kong, also shared her opinions on the legislation in a recent interview with local media.

This file photo dated March 12, 2021 shows the exterior of the headquarters of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government (left) and the Legislative Council in Hong Kong. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

She said there is no best time to enact Article 23 legislation, but that the current environment in Legislative Council is far better than that before 2003, and local residents also have more understanding on the city’s constitutional obligations in national security protection and have learned lessons from the social unrest in recent years.

Chief Excutive John Lee Ka-chiu stressed that the local legislation should refer primarily to all the effective methods of cracking down on the crimes, and then consider how to apply them in Hong Kong

In 2003, the Hong Kong SAR government also attempted unsuccessfully to introduce local legislation of Article 23.

Article 23 states that the local legislation should cover the offense of stealing State secrets. Ip noted that there was a great controversy in 2003 over how to define State secrets, and the relevant issues were “quite sensitive”.

Although the current Official Secrets Ordinance covers acts of espionage, the ordinance is outdated, Ip said, adding that she hopes the government will redefine the criteria for espionage when introducing local legislation of Article 23.

She said she hopes the government will learn a lesson from previous experience and vigorously publicize the legislation, as it is beneficial to national security and the prosperity of Hong Kong.

ALSO READ: Lee: Goal to finalize Article 23 law this year remains unchanged

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convener of the Executive Council, the current environment in Legislative Council is far better than that before 2003, and local residents also have more understanding on the city’s constitutional obligations in national security protection and have learned lessons from the social unrest in recent years

In another media interview, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said that all of his work during the past year has been focused on how to fully and accurately implement the “one country, two systems” policy, in particular on maintaining and developing the common law system.

Lam emphasized that maintaining national security and a stable social environment are prerequisites for the future of Hong Kong. He added that safeguarding national sovereignty and security is the highest principle under “one country, two systems”.

The Department of Justice has made a lot of progress in safeguarding national security, he said. Those achievements include amending the Legal Practitioners Ordinance, which regulates overseas lawyers’ participation in national security cases; and introducing the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2023 to the Legislative Council for deliberation, which proposed that the prosecution be allowed to appeal against acquittals made by the Court of First Instance in national security cases.

READ MORE: Tang: HK still needs to enact Article 23 to close legal loophole

In the future, the secretary for justice and the DOJ will continue to improve the city’s legal framework of protecting national security, and strengthen national security education among the general public to ensure that every resident has sufficient understanding of the concept, Lam said.

Contact the writer at mikegu@chinadailyhk.com