Former DPP Grenville Cross Calls For Article 23

Former prosecutions chief Grenville Cross says there's an "urgent" need for the Hong Kong government to enact national security legislation. He warns that if it’s delayed much longer, it could affect the chances of “One Country, Two Systems” being continued after 2047.

Cross says it's a cause of great concern that the SAR still hasn’t enacted national security laws under Article 23 of the Basic Law -- 21 years after Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule.

The former Director of Public Prosecutions says while current laws already cover treason, sedition and theft of state secrets, they don’t outlaw subversion and secession.

Cross says he’s surprised the legislation wasn’t introduced within a decade of the handover, something our sister SAR, Macau, managed to achieve in 2009.

Calls for the government to introduce national security laws have intensified since Occupy movement leader Benny Tai recently suggested that Hong Kong could one day consider independence, if China were ever to become a democracy.

Cross says he hopes Chief Executive Carrie Lam will get on with the job of bringing in Article 23 legislation, even if the issue remains "too hot to handle".

When the government proposals do come, he imagines they’ll be similar to those put forward 15 years ago, and people won’t face prosecution merely for expressing their views.