National People's Congress decision on Hong Kong national security legislation
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The Decision of the National People's Congress on Establishing and Improving the Legal System and Enforcement Mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to Safeguard National Security[1] is a congressional resolution passed by the third session of the 13th National People's Congress on 28 May 2020.[2][3] This resolution authorizes the National People's Congress Standing Committee to promulgate a national security law in Hong Kong.
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese. (May 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Decision on Hong Kong national security legislation | |
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National People's Congress | |
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Territorial extent | People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong) |
Passed by | National People's Congress |
Passed | 28 May 2020 (2020-05-28) |
Legislative history | |
Introduced by | Standing Committee of the National People's Congress |
Introduced | 21 May 2020 (2020-05-21) |
Status: In force |
National People's Congress decision on Hong Kong national security legislation | |||||||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 全国人民代表大会关于建立健全香港特别行政区维护国家安全的法律制度和执行机制的决定 | ||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 全國人民代表大會關於建立健全香港特別行政區維護國家安全的法律制度和執行機制的決定 | ||||||||||||
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According to the decision, the proposed national security law seeks to prevent external interference in Hong Kong's affairs, criminalise acts that threaten national security such as subversion and secession, allow the State Council of the People's Republic of China to establish a national security agency in Hong Kong when necessary and require the Chief Executive to send the central government periodic reports on national security.[4]
The pan-democratic camp, legal professionals, human rights organisations and politicians abroad have criticised the decision as a threat to the "one country, two systems" principle, the rule of law and civil liberties. In late May 2020, Chinese diplomat Xie Feng said that the laws would only target a minority of "troublemakers" who had endangered Chinese national security. Around the same time, Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee said regarding the Hong Kong situation that “terrorism is growing” and calls for Hong Kong independence had become more frequent, which necessitated the bill. Several Hong Kong government officials strove to reassure investors, with Financial Secretary Paul Chan writing on his blog that any harm to investor confidence was due to "misunderstanding" of the law.[5]