Announcing details of the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill at a news conference, HKSAR Secretary for Security Regina Ip said the draft legislation is formulated having taken into account public views expressed during the consultation period and in accordance with the Way Forward leaflet that outlined the HKSAR government's law-drafting direction on the relevant issue on Jan. 28.

"In accordance with the constitutional requirement under Article 23, the HKSAR is enacting laws on its own to protect national security," she said.

Article 23 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulates that "the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets."

In the drafting the bill, the HKSAR government was making use of existing laws which already criminalize certain acts that endanger national security, instead of extending mainland laws to the HKSAR, Ip explained.

The bill will entail the amending of three existing pieces of HKSAR legislation, namely the Crimes Ordinance, the Official Secrets Ordinance and the Societies Ordinance, which already deal with some of the activities prohibited under Article 23, she said.

"In formulating the bill, the HKSAR government has made a careful effort to strike a balance between protecting national security and safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms," Ip remarked.

The bill has been drafted in a way that is consistent with international human rights standards as applied to the HKSAR, the security chief added.

"The bill also specifically provides that the interpretation, application and enforcement of the provisions implementing Article 23 shall be consistent with Article 39 of the Basic Law, which guarantees that the international human rights standards as applied to Hong Kong shall be implemented," she stressed.

The bill will be gazetted on Friday and introduced into the HKSAR Legislative Council for first and second readings on Feb. 26, Ip said.

According to Article 23 of the Basic Law, the bill shall also "prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies."

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2003)