More than 98pc of 13,000 views back Basic Law Article 23

Michael Shum

A staggering 98 percent-plus of the 13,000 opinions received by the government supported the enactment of Basic Law Article 23 during a public consultation that ended on Wednesday.

Only 93 opinions objected to the enactment - of which 10 came from foreign anti-China organizations or fugitives who have absconded overseas - the government said.

This was out of a total of 13,147 public views received through e-mail, mail and fax during the 29-day public consultation, the government said.

Among them, 12,969 views - or 98.64 percent - were supportive.

Another 85 only raised questions or expressed they were unable to show their stance - taking up 0.65 percent of all opinions collected.

The Security Bureau said the results indicated that the legislative proposals have gained "majority support from the public."

It added: "On the other hand, the views received cover different aspects of the legislative proposals while some even offered opinions on safeguarding national security beyond what is covered in the proposals of the consultation document. These would serve as valuable reference in the process of drafting the bill."

In addition, organizations and bodies from various sectors and professions showed their staunch support for the government's legislative work through 512 open statements, byline articles and joint letters as of Tuesday.

"The government would like to express gratitude to members of the public for their active participation in the public consultation, and is pleased that society has reached consensus to complete the legislation as early as possible," the bureau said.

"This demonstrates a strong ambiance to support Basic Law Article 23 legislation in society."

Meanwhile, the office of the foreign ministry's commissioner in Hong Kong slammed remarks made by Britain's foreign secretary David Cameron.

Cameron on Wednesday urged the government to "reconsider" the security law enactment and engage in "genuine and meaningful consultation" with the people of Hong Kong.

In a statement, the office expressed its "strong discontent and resolute opposition" for the malicious smears of Hong Kong's human rights, rule of law and freedom.

"The UK does not have sovereign power, governing power or supervision power over post-handover Hong Kong," the commissioner said.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung slammed Cameron's remarks as "biased and mistaken" for disregarding the public consultation, which showed most of the people backed the legislation.

The commissioner also lashed out at US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller's statement, which said the United States is concerned by the "broad and vague definitions of 'state secrets' and 'external interference' that could be used to eliminate dissent."

The commissioner continued: "We strongly oppose the US for interfering in Hong Kong's internal affairs and we urge the US to stop using any excuse to meddle in Hong Kong and China affairs."

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com