National Security Legislation: Silver Lining of HK Restoring Order and Prosperity

“We have been looking forward to this [national security legislation] for a long time,” said Fung Kuen-kwok, a doctor living in Yau Ma Tei area in Hong Kong. “I believe that after the completion of the legislation, it will have a deterrent effect on violent elements and help the residents resume normal life and work.”

Fung is glad to hear that the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, would deliberate a draft decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security. He noted that many of his neighbors and clients have been worried about their own safety due to rampant violence since the social unrest emerged in June last year. They are irritated, but hesitant to raise their voices.

Since the rioting and vandalism broke out last June, political groups advocating “Hong Kong’s independence” and local radical separatists have become increasingly rampant with escalating violence. The rioters have been caught attacking police officers in an organized manner and assaulting and beating up innocent citizens who hold different political views, causing tremendous chaos. During their demonstrations and violent protests, radical protesters besieged and attacked the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, defaced the national emblem and national flag, openly challenged the authority and sovereignty of the central government, blatantly offended the national dignity, and challenged the bottom line of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.

The social unrest is devastating Hong Kong’s economy and the residents’ livelihoods. Hong Kong has slipped in several rating agencies’ rankings with investment, catering business, retail sales and more other sectors being hard hit and big-name shops closing. According to the HKSAR government, Hong Kong’s GDP in 2019 went down 1.2 percent year-on-year, marking its first negative growth since 2009. As for the first quarter of 2020, the number shrank by 8.9 percent year-on-year, recording the worst quarter in history. Meanwhile, the latest report of unemployment rate in Hong Kong shows a hiking to 5.2 percent—more than 200,000 people are jobless, setting a new high over the past decade.

Under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the HKSAR’s constitutional document, Hong Kong shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, or subversion against the central government, and theft of state secrets. However, as foreign interference continues growing in Hong Kong, fanning violation of laws among young people and seeding local terrorism, the political atmosphere impedes the progress of implementing the legislation work. This vacuum in Hong Kong’s legal system has exposed huge loopholes in safeguarding national security.

“The establishment of a sound legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding national security in Hong Kong means that the loopholes can finally be plugged and the risks will be brought under control,” said Cheng Cheung Ling, chair of HKCPPCC (Provincial) Members Association and vice chair of the board of directors of Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited. She adds that the legislation will function as a stabilizer that assures business owners of steady operations, builds investor confidence, enables citizens to live and work with no fear, and ensures smooth traveling for tourists.