HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Tuesday said it opposed a Bloomberg report on the proposed legislative framework to enhance the protection of computer systems of critical infrastructures in the city.

The HKSAR government said in a statement on Tuesday night that the report was biased and took the views of the submissions made by some organizations out of context.

The government pointed out that, during the one-month consultation period for the proposal that ended on August 1, it received 53 submissions, of which 52 supported the legislation and made constructive suggestions.

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These submission included those from the Asia Internet Coalition, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the HKSAR government said.

The government added that the proposed framework only concerns protecting the Critical Computer Systems (CCSs) of the Critical Infrastructure Operators (CIOs) and in no way involves the personal data and business information.

Relevant legislation already exists in other jurisdictions, including the Chinese mainland, the Macao SAR, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, the European Union and Singapore, the HKSAR government said.

It said information technology—which is regarded as critical infrastructure under relevant laws in other jurisdictions--is one of the sectors to be regulated under the proposed framework, but only individual organizations, instead of the entire IT sector, will be designated as CIOs that have to be regulated depending on certain factors.

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These factors include implications on essential services and important societal and economic activities in Hong Kong if there was damage, loss of functionality, or data leakage; level of dependence on information technology; importance of the data controlled; and degree of control on the critical infrastructure.

The HKSAR government also said that the proposed legislation does not have extraterritorial effect and the Commissioner's Office will only request information accessible to CIOs and will give them reasonable time for prepare.

It said CIOs also have the responsibility of properly responding to cyberattacks. Only when a CIO is unwilling or unable to respond to an incident on its own would the Commissioner's Office consider applying to a magistrate for a warrant to connect to the CCSs or install programs in the CCSs, taking into consideration its necessity, appropriateness, proportionality and public interest.

The HKSAR government noted that relevant regulators in other jurisdictions such as Australia and Singapore also have similar powers.

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The government added that it has been engaging and will continue to engage all industry stakeholders in formulating the legislative regime and the related Codes of Practice.