Mission accomplished, Lee tells Xia

Beijing's top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs Xia Baolong met with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and listened to his work report, according to the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, two days after safeguarding national security legislation was passed.

Lee was accompanied by some officials responsible for the enactment of the law, including Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok and Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung.

Director of the Chief Executive's office Carol Yip Man-kuen was also in the meeting.

Four deputy directors of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office - Zhou Ji, Wang Linggui, Zheng Yanxiong, who is also director of the Central Government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong, and Nong Rong - also took part in the meeting.

Lee said that he briefed Xia on the completion of the historic mission of enacting Basic Law Article 23.

"It was a glorious achievement of the implementation of the principle of patriots administering Hong Kong," Lee said.

Xia also met with Legislative Council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen in Shenzhen in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan slammed some foreign countries for "having double standards" and "sophistry" in their criticisms against the Article 23 legislation in his speech at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on Wednesday.

"The comments by some countries and organizations on [the legislation] are made in complete disregard of basic jurisprudence and facts, and demonstrate nothing more than double standards and sophistry," Cheung said.

He added that many countries have enacted a host of national security laws, and the SAR's new domestic national security legislation will better protect the country from genuine threats to national security in the increasingly intricate geopolitics.

The law fully aligns with the principles of international laws and practices, while also strictly adhering to rule of law, according to Cheung.

"Any attempt to discredit or undermine the legislation on Article 23 is misguided at best," he added.

Meanwhile, over 70 percent of Hong Kong citizens agreed that it is the SAR government's constitutional responsibility to safeguard national security, a poll by the Institute of Public Opinion Survey found, adding that it shows a "general consensus."

More than 63 percent of the 649 adults the institute interviewed by phone between March 12 and 18 agreed that Hong Kong should focus on developing the economy and improving citizens' livelihood.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com