'HK People Being Kept In The Dark About The New Law'

A prominent law expert on Friday slammed the central government’s approach in drawing up a national security law for Hong Kong, saying people in the city are being kept in the dark about it.

HKU principal lecturer Eric Cheung said this would only create more worries in society about its contents.

The law expert said though details of the law were not out yet, he was worried that it might fully apply a broad definition of national security under mainland law, which was amended in 2015.

That definition is very far reaching, he said. “It covers not only the traditional concept of national security, but also what they call non-traditional concepts. It basically includes everything.”

Cheung explained that the law includes political and economic stability, and other issues such as environmental protection.

He said while this is yet to be confirmed, he doubts that the definition of national security under the Hong Kong law would differ from that of the mainland's.

Cheung also said Beijing used to have genuine respect for the opinions of the people of Hong Kong, noting that there were widespread consultations held in the years-long process of drafting the Basic Law.

Now, he says, Beijing is just running through the procedures.