Hong Kong begins legislative push to pass new national security laws
Al JazeeraNew offences covered under the proposed laws will include treason, insurrection and espionage. Hong Kong’s government said it has started work on new national security laws it intends to pass soon, four years after China imposed sweeping legislation in the wake of massive pro-democracy protests. John Lee, chief executive of the semi-autonomous city, said on Tuesday that while Hong Kong “as a whole looks calm and very safe”, it still had to look out for “potential sabotage and undercurrents that try to create troubles, particularly some of the independent Hong Kong ideas that are still embedded in some people’s minds”. The security law – mandated by Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution – will cover five additional offences: treason, insurrection, espionage, destructive activities endangering national security, and external interference. Al Jazeera’s Patrick Fok, reporting from Hong Kong, said it seemed “very unlikely” there would be protests similar to those in 2019 in opposition to the new proposed laws.