Article 23 to be gazetted today

The full draft of Basic Law Article 23 will be gazetted and tabled to the Legislative Council for first reading today.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said he has written to Legco President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, saying the government and Legco have the responsibility and must spare no effort to enact the law as soon as possible.

"Completing the legislative work even one day earlier means we can more effectively safeguard national security one day earlier," Lee said.

Non-official Exco members also said they fully support the gazette of Article 23, which is "necessary and urgent."

Leung therefore announced a special meeting at 11am today for the first and second readings of the bill - called Safeguarding National Security Bill.

Bills committee chairman Martin Liao Cheung-kong also announced two special meetings to scrutinize the bill in the afternoon.

Former Hong Kong sole delegate to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, Tam Yiu-chung, told The Standard that Beijing has repeatedly signaled it hoped the enactment could be completed as soon as possible.

"The SAR government's move showed that the Central Government is very supportive of speeding up the legislation process," Tam said. "With lawmakers working overtime and more frequent meetings being called, the bill will be passed in no time."

Political pundit Lau Siu-kai, a consultant to the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said: "For some reason, politicians and media from the US and the West recently stepped up their efforts to attack the Article 23 legislation by spreading rumors and panic. It seems to me that they have an agenda.

"Speeding up the completion of the law enactment will prevent foreign forces from organizing operations to obstruct the legislative work and stirring up chaos."

At yesterday's meeting of the Legco subcommittee on Article 23 legislation, Kowloon Central lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit sought officials' clarification on sedition under the legislation.

In response, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said picking on and humiliating mainland tourists, as well as inciting hatred can already constitute sedition under the new domestic national security legislation.

Meanwhile, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, who is in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs, told Hong Kong NPC deputies that the legislation of Article 23 is "a strong consensus and urgent hope of the SAR community," according to Hong Kong NPC delegation head Ma Fung-kwok.

Ding also urged the Hong Kong government to explain the law to citizens to ease their concerns.