HK official tells UNHRC: Article 23 will bring a stable, prosperous future

Any attempt to discredit or undermine the legislation on Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China is misguided, and the legislative exercise has gained very wide support from the Hong Kong community, Hong Kong's deputy secretary for justice told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday. 

"We are confident that the legislation will bring about a stable and prosperous future for Hong Kong with the rights and freedoms enjoyed in accordance with the law fully protected, as always," Cheung Kwok-kwan said while delivering a speech at the 55th regular session of the UNHRC.

The just-passed Article 23 of the HKSAR Basic Law will "better protect the country from genuine threats to national security in the increasingly intricate geopolitics of our time" and the legislation "fully aligns with the principles of international laws and practices," said the deputy secretary.

He noted that "each and every sovereign state, including China, has an inherent right to enact laws to safeguard its national security," and that "many countries have enacted a host of national security laws based on their own national security risks and needs."

"The United States has at least 21 pieces of legislation; the United Kingdom has at least 14 pieces; Canada has at least nine pieces; and Singapore has at least six pieces," he added.

He also pointed out that the "comments by some countries and organizations on this are made in complete disregard of basic jurisprudence and facts, and demonstrate nothing more than double standards and sophistry."

"The legislation clearly specifies that the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law, as well as the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong, are to be protected in accordance with the law," said Cheung.

"This important principle forms a cornerstone of the legislation, and is literally written in the new law," he added.

"Our new legislation also strictly adheres to the principles of rule of law. The laws are certain and clear, and they come with appropriate exceptions and defenses. There is no question of the general public inadvertently violating the law," he noted.