What is Hong Kong’s new national security bill?

The first time Hong Kong tried to introduce a new national security law in 2003, an estimated half a million people took to the streets in protest. The government at the time withdrew the proposed legislation.

Earlier this year on January 30, Hong Kong revisited the Safeguarding National Security Bill, publishing a working paper that marked the start of a month-long consultation process.

Article 23 of Hong Kong’s constitution, known as the Basic Law, requires the city to pass a security law that deals with treason.

On March 8, eight days after the consultation period ended, a full draft reached the Legislative Council, giving the public full insight into the proposed offences, associated penalties, and extraterritorial application.

The 212-page draft bill was published a few hours before the session on Friday, where a Bills committee was also set to scrutinise the proposed legislation at two meetings in the afternoon. It will cover five new laws on treason; insurrection, incitement to mutiny and acts with seditious intention; sabotage; external interference; and state secrets and espionage.

The city’s chief executive, John Lee, had vowed days earlier to implement the domestic national security law “as soon as possible”.

"Our main task after the consultation period is to consolidate all the ideas and see how we can implement some of the government's suggestions, as well as those comments we received, and how we can integrate some of our own provisions," Lee said.

Once passed, which could happen in April, the new national security law will complement similar legislation that Beijing imposed in 2020, outlawing secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.

The legislation required under Article 23 has been delayed for years due to widespread public opposition based on concerns that it could undermine civil liberties.

Lee had previously told lawmakers to pass the law “at full speed.”

“Completing the legislative work even one day earlier means we can more effectively safeguard national security one day earlier,” he said in a statement.

Critics and experts have pointed out how the new broadly-worded law could further restrict the city's freedom, particularly after protests in 2019 that led to the law Beijing imposed the following year.

"The fact they are rushing through article 23 shows concern about public opposition,” Andrew Collier, managing director at Hong Kong-based Orient Capital Research told Reuters. “The business community is going to be unhappy unless there are guard rails protecting individual rights.”

Since China introduced the national security law for Hong Kong, which came into effect on June 30 2020, many prominent pro-democracy activists have been arrested in the country, with others forced to move abroad. Outspoken media outlets, in addition to civil society groups, were also shut down.

In August 2020, police arrested Apple Daily newspaper founder Jimmy Lai on charges of “colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring to print seditious publications.” In jail since 2020, Lai’s court trial began in December last year.

In 2021, a group of 47 people comprising pro-democracy legislators, politicians, and activists were charged with conspiracy to subvert state power. That same year, Leon Tong Ying-kit became the first person to be convicted under the national security law on July 27.

Tong was jailed nine years for colliding into policemen while riding a motorcycle bearing a flag that said “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.”

In June 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke about social unrest of the last few years, saying “People have learned the hard way that Hong Kong must not be destabilised and cannot afford to see chaos.”

“There is extensive consensus that no time should be lost in Hong Kong’s development and that all interference should be removed so that Hong Kong can stay focused on development,” Xi added.

Some of the revised sentences for certain listed offences, like those for sedition and state secrets, are broad, experts and critics say, leaving possible use to silence freedom of expression and the media.

Under the new law, treason, insurrection and sabotage could entail a life sentence, while crimes linked to state secrets and sedition could mean a ten-year sentence, and espionage 20 years.

Police would also be allowed to detain individuals for up to 14 days without charge, subject to approval by a magistrate, during which time, access to lawyers may potentially be restricted. Currently, individuals can be held for up to 48 hours.