Luo: Central govt firm to enact security legislation in HK

HONG KONG – The central government will press ahead with its decision to enact a national security law in the Hong Kong SAR, Luo Huining, director of the central government's liaison office in the city, said on Saturday.

The remarks came as central government authorities, including the liaison office, had begun hearing from the people of Hong Kong their views on how the proposed national security law should be framed and how it should be brought into practice.

Luo on Saturday met with local representatives who called for the law to be enacted to ensure Hong Kong keeps a high degree of autonomy and enjoys long-term prosperity and stability.

The central government is determined to pass the law and protect the legitimate rights and freedoms granted to ordinary, law-abiding citizens, he said.

The national security law proposed in May covers acts of secession, subversion and terrorism, and external interference in the affairs of Hong Kong.

The proposed law aims to target only a small number of crimes that pose grave threats to national security, Luo said at a seminar attended by 21 delegates to the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee.

Luo said the views of the delegates supporting the law reflected the majority of the people of Hong Kong.

The liaison office said it had also received 201 written proposals from 36 local National People's Congress deputies and 165 CPPCC National Committee members. The feedback will aid the deliberations of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress as it drafts the new law.