The office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was inaugurated on Wednesday morning, as required by the newly-passed national security legislation.

Read more: 

English translation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

The office – led by Zheng Yanxiong, appointed by the State Council last week – is set up to supervise, guide and coordinate with and support the HKSAR in performing its duties to safeguard national security, according to an official government release.

The office for safeguarding national security is "the envoy of Hong Kong's security" and "the gatekeeper of national security," Luo Huining, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, said at the inauguration ceremony.

Luo is also the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, another bureau dispatched to the HKSAR by the central government in 1997 when China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong. The newly inaugurated national security office marks the fourth bureau of such.

Based on the government statement, the office will analyze and appraise the national security situation in the HKSAR and provide comments and suggestions for major strategies and policies in this regard, as per the law. It shall also collect and analyze intelligence information concerning national security and deal with criminal cases concerning national security in accordance with the law.

The national security office in Hong Kong will perform its mandate in strict compliance with the law and be subject to supervision in accordance with the law, and will not infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of any individual or organization, said Luo, who's also the national security adviser to the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR.

The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council also voiced its support, saying it will offer assistance "as much as possible."

In a statement, the mainland office said it hopes to work closely together with the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR in persevering national sovereignty, safety and developing interests. 

Tian Feilong, director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, explained the necessity of the office in an opinion piece for CGTN.

"Hong Kong failed to complete the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law over the past 23 years," Tian commented, pointing out the widespread demonstrations – sometimes violent – that broke out last June. "Risks of color revolutions and homeland terrorism are lurking in Hong Kong, featuring unprecedented interference by external forces and subversive political threats."

Tian indicated that the power of the central government office would be "restrained." "It (the office) only exercises jurisdiction over a small number of cases that are beyond the scope of HKSAR's law enforcement capabilities or may involve foreign participants. Often such case, if left unattended to, may leave China's national security in grave peril," he said.

"The direct jurisdiction from the central government can help avoid the institutional risk of HKSAR government circumventing the emergency provisions of Article 18 of the Basic Law for a lack of law enforcement competence," he added. 

(With input from Xinhua)