'Law Could Come Soon, But Not Sure If Bill Is Ready'

A vice chairwoman of the Basic Law Committee, Maria Tam, said on Friday that it is very likely that the security law drafted for Hong Kong will be passed in the coming National People's Congress Standing Committee session which begins on Sunday, although she admits the item is not on the agenda yet, and she doesn't know whether the bill has been finalised.

Her comments come after Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other top officials said publicly that they could not comment on the bill because they don't know the content.

When Tam was asked whether it shows a lack of trust or respect on the part of Beijing for the SAR government, she said: "We follow the procedure of the National People’s Congress which means that unless the final draft is ready, it is not open for consultation through, for example, the internet."

"But as far as the drafting is concerned, consultation has been going on intensively. I don’t know how much the Hong Kong government officials know as far as I’m concerned because the drafting is still going on, it will be very difficult for anybody to say that they’ve actually seen the final draft."

She also said it was unfair for former chief justice Andrew Li to say judicial independence may be harmed if the Chief Executive is given the power to appoint judges to national security cases.

"Mr Li was appointed by the Chief Executive to be the president of the Court of Final Appeal, I’m sure he maintained independence in his judgement on all the cases, so do the other judges," she said.

Speaking on an RTHK radio programme on Friday, Tam said the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee has spent the last few days collecting the opinions of Hong Kong people.

Tam was one of the people seen entering the liaison office this week as mainland officials held a series of closed-door consultations on the national security law, in which all attendants are said to have expressed support for the legislation.