Office to intervene only in extreme cases
Print Edition
THE jurisdiction of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region only targets the very few criminal cases that severely endanger national security, a senior Chinese lawmaker said yesterday.
Shen Chunyao, head of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, made the remarks at a press conference on the new national security law in Hong Kong.
Under the law, the office shall exercise jurisdiction over a case concerning offense endangering national security, if: the case is complex due to the involvement of a foreign country or external elements, thus making it difficult for the HKSAR to exercise jurisdiction over the case; a serious situation occurs where the HKSAR government is unable to effectively enforce this law; or a major and imminent threat to national security has occurred.
The initiating procedure of the jurisdiction of the office over cases that severely endanger national security in the HKSAR has very strict and specific stipulations, which are stipulated in Articles 55, 56 and 57 of the law, he said.
There have also been concerns over the fate of opposition figures in Hong Kong, but Zhang Xiaoming, deputy head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, said that the law targets only a narrow category of crimes endangering national security, instead of the entire opposition camp in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is a plural society with diverse political views, and the implementation of the “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong has already spoken volumes about the political tolerance of the central authorities, said Zhang.
Different political views, including those not in the government’s favor, can still exist, Zhang said.
But there are red lines and basic principles that cannot be breached in the “one country, two systems,” Zhang stressed, noting that the opposition in Hong Kong should reflect on themselves and make appropriate adjustments in this regard.
“What happened recently in Hong Kong has shown a deviation from the right track of the ‘one country, two systems’ (framework),” Zhang told reporters. “To some extent, we made this law in order to correct the deviation ... to pull it closer to ‘one-country.’”
Article 6 of the national security law makes stipulations concerning the oath-taking and allegiance swearing for people assuming public offices in the HKSAR, which took reference from Article 104 of the HKSAR Basic Law, Zhang said.
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