Hong Kong Security Bill Withdrawn to Focus on Economy

The Hong Kong Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, announced on September 5 that the HKSAR Government had decided to withdraw the controversial national security bill to allow more time for community consultation and to focus on economic recovery.

Mr Tung noted that Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong must legislate on its own to ban actions that would threaten national security. “Legislating on Article 23 is a constitutional obligation and one that should be fulfilled by the citizens of Hong Kong," he said. “Judging from the results of consultations done earlier on, on this particular point , there has been a consensus in the community."

He said that because the community continued to have some doubts and concerns about the provisions of the proposed legislature, the HKSAR Government had decided to withdraw the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill from the legislative programme so as to allow sufficient time for the community to study the enactments question. 

A special working group will be set up within the Security Bureau to review the entire legislative project. 

Mr Tung said he believed that after full consultation, this piece of legislation would ultimately win the understanding and support of the community at large.

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