Proposed subsidiary laws to strengthen nat. sec legislation will not infringe on human rights, justice chief says

HKFP

12-05-2025

Authorities' plans to strengthen the city's national security legislation will not infringe on human rights and freedoms, the Hong Kong justice minister has told lawmakers.
Lawmakers convened for an off-schedule Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting on Monday afternoon, hours after the Security Bureau published a paper proposing subsidiary legislation to safeguard national security.
The proposals include designating premises linked to Beijing's national security office in Hong Kong as 'prohibited places' and drawing up related offences, as well as setting up a mechanism to allow mainland China to exercise jurisdiction over national security cases.
The latter builds on an article in the Beijing-imposed national security law, which states that 'complex' cases can be prosecuted across the border.
Independent lawmaker Doreen Kong asked the two top ministers in attendance – Secretary for Justice Paul Lam and Secretary for Security Chris Tang – whether these proposals would breach rights protected under the Basic Law and international human rights covenants that Hong Kong is party to.
'Of course, we are very concerned about human rights and freedoms,' Lam said in Cantonese in response to Kong.
He said that what authorities were proposing was subsidiary legislation. Since national security legislation upholds the values protected under international covenants, the subsidiary laws 'naturally' would do the same.
'In terms of the law, there is absolutely no doubt. Human rights and freedom provisions will not be affected in any way by subsidiary legislation,' Lam said.
Article 23 – Hong Kong's homegrown national security law, which was enacted in March last year – empowers authorities to pass subsidiary legislation 'for the needs of safeguarding national security,' he added.
'Forbidden' premises
During the meeting on Monday, lawmakers at the opposition-free legislature hailed the plans to strengthen the city's national security legislation, calling them 'necessary' amid global geopolitical tensions.
'The international situation is becoming increasingly complex,' lawmaker Kitson Yang said in Cantonese. 'National security cannot be ignored.'
Another lawmaker, Benson Luk, said the commerce sector had always welcomed the safeguarding of national security because business could not thrive in chaos.
'If Hong Kong moves from stability to prosperity, then… we can create more, better, and more stable business conditions,' Luk said in Cantonese.
Among the most talked-about proposals during the meeting were the authorities' plans to designate premises associated with the Office for Safeguarding National Security, which is part of Beijing's Central People's Government, as 'forbidden.' Authorities say the move is needed to guard against espionage.
The Office for Safeguarding National Security, which is part of Beijing's Central People's Government, was established in July 2020, shortly after Beijing imposed its national security law, at the site of the Metropark Hotel in Causeway Bay.
The address of the hotel is still listed on the office's website. The government said in April 2021 that a site in Tai Kok Tsui had been granted to the office as a permanent base, which would measure around 11,500 square metres.
Lawmaker Yang asked the officials how the public could know which areas were off-limits. He said he looked on Wikipedia and found four places that were associated with the office.
'Metropark Hotel in Causeway Bay; City Garden Hotel as a residence; Royal Pacific Hotel as their temporary headquarters; and the future 15 Hoi Fan Road site [in Tai Kok Tsui], the permanent offices,' Yang said.
He said the public needed clarity so they could avoid accidentally trespassing.
Tang replied that the law would clearly stipulate the addresses and coordinates of places that are forbidden. He said authorities would also submit a paper to the Legislative Council with a map showing which sites would be off-limits.
Potential scams
The government also said it planned to set up a mechanism to allow the Office for Safeguarding National Security to 'directly exercise jurisdiction' over national security cases.
The office's powers to do so are stipulated under Article 55 of the national security law. However, authorities said a mechanism at the 'local law level' should be established to allow the office to perform this mandate effectively.
Regarding the proposal that the government set up a mechanism to allow mainland China to exercise jurisdiction over national security cases, authorities said they planned to require Hong Kong government departments and agencies, as well as public servants, to provide 'reasonable assistance' to the Beijing office should Article 55 matters arise.
Lawmakers asked how the public could discern whether they were truly being contacted by someone in authority or if they were the target of fraud, given the proliferation of scams – some of which involve scammers pretending to be law enforcement agents.
'How can we strengthen education in the event that citizens are approached by people who say they are with the national security office, or they receive the office's document? How can they verify this is real?' New People's Party lawmaker Dominic Lee asked.
Scams happen 'all the time in Hong Kong,' Tang replied. 'There will not be a new risk because of this subsidiary legislation.'
The public should contact the police if they suspect they are a victim of a scam, the security chief added.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
Separate from the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, and theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of up to 16 days, suspects' access to lawyers up to life in prison.