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Public opinion backs Hong Kong Article 23 national security law, Chief Executive John Lee says
- Lee also says his administration will report full results of one-month consultation exercise to legislature in due course
- ‘The general opinion … [is] in support of the overall goal of enacting Article 23 to ensure that we protect ourselves when people want to cause damage to us,’ he says
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Most opinions gathered during a consultation launched on Hong Kong’s domestic national security law supported the proposed legislation, the city’s leader has said, and pledged to get it done “as soon as possible”.
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Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu added on Tuesday his administration would report the results of the one-month consultation exercise, which will end on February 28, to the legislature in due course.
But he gave no further details about when the proposed law would go before lawmakers.
Authorities unveiled plans to pass the legislation last month, which Hong Kong is mandated to create under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
The proposed law would introduce five types of new offences and complement the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
Lee said the “general opinion” expressed in the public consultation showed “support of the overall goal of enacting Article 23 to ensure that we protect ourselves when people want to cause damage to us”.
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