01 point of view
Written by: Review Editor
2020-06-19 12:00
Last update date: 2020-06-19 12:01On Thursday (June 18), the 19th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress was held in Beijing. Shen Chunyao, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, gave an explanation. In the afternoon, Xinhua News Agency reported that the draft clearly stipulated the specific composition and criminal responsibility of four types of criminal acts "collusion of foreign or foreign forces endangering national security."
The word "collusion of foreign or foreign forces endangering national security" as stipulated in the draft follows the words "Decision of the National People's Congress on Establishing and Improving the Legal System and Implementation Mechanism of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to Maintain National Security" on May 28. There are differences in the activities of interfering in the affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Therefore, many people in Hong Kong are speculating about the intention behind them. Some democrats immediately questioned that the term "collusion" was not a legal term, and some members of the formed factions spoke of linking "collusion" and "spy".
Common "collusion" in China's Criminal Law
In fact, as long as the "Chapter Two of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" is opened, the first crime in Chapter One is "collusion with foreign countries, which endangers the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the People's Republic of China." Imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years. Any collusion with an overseas institution, organization, or individual who commits the crime of the preceding paragraph shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.” (Article 102) The relevant provisions have directly referred to “collusion of foreign countries” and “and The concept of collusion between overseas institutions, organizations and individuals".
In the same chapter of the Criminal Law, there are also crimes of "collusion with foreign institutions, organizations, and individuals to commit the crimes specified in Article 103, Article 104, and Article 105 of this chapter, in accordance with each article The provisions of this article punish heavier penalties." (Article 106) The three provisions mentioned here provide for "secession of the country" and "incitement to split the country", "armed rebellion" and "armed riot", "subversion of state power" and "incitement to subversion" "State power" crime.
As for the "espionage" behavior, there is another article: "If one of the following espionage behaviors endangers national security, it will be sentenced to more than ten years or life imprisonment; if the circumstances are less serious, it will be sentenced to more than three years and less than ten years Imprisonment: (1) Participating in a spy organization or accepting the tasks of a spy organization and its agent; (2) Instructing the enemy to bombard a target." (Article 110) Its content is obviously different from the aforementioned crimes, and the criminal liability may also be minor .
Can't understand from Hong Kong only
It is one thing to criticize or recognize the level of rule of law in the Mainland from the perspective of political reality, but it is another matter to have a basic understanding of the provisions of the country’s Criminal Law. "Collus" is a term that has always existed objectively in China's Criminal Law and cannot be simply confused with other concepts such as "espionage" and "intervention". However, some Hong Kong politicians with a legal background or a close relationship with the mainland have published on related issues 'S opinion does not seem to be aware of this, which is really difficult to understand.
It is also important to point out that since the Mainland’s Criminal Law has not had many cases of “collusion with foreign countries” and “collusion with foreign institutions, organizations, and individuals” in recent years, the mainland legal community and academic circles do have different concepts. Understand, for example, in the past, Beijing criminal law scholars have suggested whether "outside" should include Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and whether "collusion" is limited to secret contact and secret contact. Such discussions are more critical than "collusion" as "ruling by man", " "Sin with words" is much more constructive.
Since this Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Safeguarding National Security (Draft) is a "national law" formulated by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, it is unlikely to use only common law and local laws to understand its content. When discussing the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law seventeen years ago, the Attorney General, the Bar Association and other commenters and organizations all knew how to compare the relevant crimes in the draft with the Criminal Law. At this point we are even more backward?
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01 point of view
Hong Kong version of National Security Law 01