Political situation
Written by Pan Xiqiao
2020-06-13 18:37
Date of last update: 2020-06-13 18:37The National People's Congress passed the draft "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law" earlier, which aroused heated discussion in society. The Asia-Pacific Law Association Webinar held today (13th) an online seminar to discuss the impact of the "Law District Maintenance of National Security Law" on Hong Kong.
The former chairman of the Legislative Council, Zeng Yucheng, believes that the purpose of the National Security Law is not to hinder the entry of candidates for this year’s Legislative Council, and retrospective remarks in the past also do not meet the original legislative intent of the central government.
Senior lawyer Tang Jiahua believes that even if the National Security Law is enacted, it should not shake the foundation of the Basic Law and change core values. The society should focus on discussing how to find a balance.
Lei Dingming, former director of the Department of Economics at the University of Science and Technology, believes that even if the United States imposes sanctions on Hong Kong for national security laws, it will have little impact on Hong Kong. He also recommends that the authorities establish special courts to hear cases involving national security laws.
On May 28, 2020, the National People's Congress of China passed the "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law" by 2,878 votes in favor, 1 against and 6 abstentions. (AP)
Zeng Yucheng believes that the legislative purpose of the "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law" is to combat a small number of crimes that endanger national security. If anyone commits a national security law, he will be arrested directly, which has nothing to do with preventing the Legislative Council candidates from entering the gate.
He also believes that the fierce behaviors that have occurred in society in recent years are generally not directly related to national security. "Not every demonstrator who smashes restaurants is doing something that jeopardizes national security laws." Existing laws such as the crime of rioting are enough to punish them. The problem is how to enforce the law.
He believes that the National Security Law is involved in the game between China and the United States. The introduction of the National Security Law is mainly to check and balance the Hong Kong version of the color revolution, because the current activities of foreign forces in Hong Kong are like "uncovered chicken cages."
Regarding the details of the future National Security Law, Zeng Yucheng believes that the relevant crimes should be tried in Hong Kong and meets the common law requirements to enhance the confidence of Hong Kong people. He also believes that there is no need to argue at this stage whether a retrospective period is necessary, because it is not suitable for clarification. If the authorities declare that there is no retrospective period, it is equivalent to encouraging crime, but considering the original and practical significance of central legislation, it is not considered that retrospective crimes are legislative The original meaning.
Zeng Yucheng also believes that the NPC’s action is not to lift the legislative obligation of the Basic Law, and that the local government must continue to enact legislation on Article 23. The Central Government’s action this time is to provide opportunities for Hong Kong to seriously consider whether to enact Article 23 legislation Give a more positive attitude.
A reporter asked how the authorities would regulate the connection between political parties and "foreign forces" in the future, such as receiving subsidies. Zeng Yucheng said that the current regulations on associations have regulated this matter. If the associations receive financial assistance from foreign political organizations, the Director of the Security Bureau has the right to stop operations. He believes that the national security law should be prevented and restricted by foreign forces interfering with the operation of the SAR government. However, the specific scope must wait for the relevant legal documents to be released before they can comment.
The National People's Congress passed the draft "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law" earlier, which aroused heated discussion in society. (Xinhua News Agency)
Senior Barrister Tang Jiahua believes that in 2003, Hong Kong citizens protested against 23 articles, not opposed to legislation, but asked for legislative advice. Since then, the government has avoided this hot potato, but since last year, young people have danced the American flag and the British flag, asking the United States to send troops to rescue Hong Kong people make the situation grim.
He believed that in the past demonstrations, some of the crimes were in compliance with existing laws such as "treason", but because the Democrats insisted that the law was outdated, the law enforcement agencies were not bold enough to quote the regulations, so he did not prosecute this crime. Dare to quote, the central government may not be so afraid of trouble in Hong Kong.
He emphasized that the Legislative Council’s legislative repair work has almost stopped since last year. If after the elections in September this year, more than half of the democratic seats will be suspended, the work of the Legislative Council will be further suspended. It is foreseeable that the SAR Government will not have the opportunity in the next 10 years. Legislation on Article 23. If this means that acts that damage the state will continue to spread, then governance and logic cannot be justified. It is also said that if the Central Government establishes the National Security Law of Hong Kong, the relevant legislation will be treated equally with other criminal offences and will not change the existing system, such as the principle of innocence inference, public trial, jury and other principles.
He believes that the focus of the current discussion is to find a balance between safeguarding national security and safeguarding Hong Kong people’s core values, such as whether the regulations will affect freedom of expression, whether the June 4th rally will continue, and whether it will continue to shout "end the one-party dictatorship." Whether to eat a meal with a foreign consul is an offence, etc.
Tang Jiahua confessed that the national security law is "rattan", but can't teach good children by rattan alone, it must have "wave sugar", that is, some soft policies make Hong Kong people "second return."
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Lei Dingming, former director of the Department of Economics at the University of Science and Technology, said that the US policy against China in recent years has been tit-for-tat. Hong Kong has had a great influence on China and is also susceptible to foreign interference. China has decided to legislate for Hong Kong after judging the situation.
He pointed out that China's national power has expanded rapidly in recent years. If the price and purchasing power of the two places are included, the GDP even surpasses the United States. In addition, the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States has widened. Many middle-class jobs have begun to face competition from China, making the United States hope to check and balance China. .
Regarding the US threat to impose sanctions on Hong Kong on national security laws, he believes that these threats have little impact on Hong Kong. For example, Hong Kong has very few local exports, and even if the status of independent tariffs is lifted, it will have little impact on Hong Kong.
As to whether the incident will cause the Hong Kong dollar to be pegged to the US dollar, he believes that from the US standpoint, he will continue to hope that Hong Kong will maintain the linked exchange rate. If Hong Kong cancels the linked exchange rate, it may cause other regions to lose confidence in the dollar and cancel the linked exchange rate one after another. Hong Kong can even threaten the United States in reverse. If it continues to "engage in battle", it will cancel the linked exchange rate." He pointed out that Hong Kong is not inexperienced with other monetary systems, referring to Hong Kong's connection with silver and pounds.
He believes that it is difficult for the United States to find a way to harm itself but only to Hong Kong, questioning that the other party is actually "unexpected" and can only speak "by evil". He estimates that the United States will continue to provide funds to Hong Kong to promote the color revolution, but only in Guoan After the law is introduced, the cost of this move will be higher.
Lei Dingming also believes that the existing judges in Hong Kong may not know how to hear cases involving Guoan, and thinks that a special court should be set up to deal specifically with this type of case, and a high-level department within the Department of Justice should be set up to take charge of prosecutions.
Hong Kong version of National Security Law Jasper Cheng