Law Word Change May Not Mean Wider Scope: Ronny Tong

Executive councillor Ronny Tong says an unexpected change in the wording of Beijing's draft national security legislation for Hong Kong doesn't necessarily mean that the scope of the law has widened.

Speaking after appearing on a radio programme, Tong brushed aside concerns from the pan-democratic camp that the change - from outlawing foreign intervention to colluding with foreign forces - was designed to scare people from having exchanges with representatives from foreign countries.

"I would have thought that such collusion would have to do with committing one of the - at least one of the - three areas of law regarding secession, subversion, or terrorism," he said.

"If the collusion has nothing to do with the three crimes, then it should not itself be a crime. So I do not know whether that understanding means that the crime is going to be narrower or wider. I think we still have to see specifically how the crime is to be defined."

Separately, Tong added he didn't fully agree with mainland and constitutional affairs minister Erick Tsang's stance on opponents of the national security law possibly being disqualified from running in September's Legco elections.

"If you are opposing the law for reasons which are permissible to do, under the Basic Law or under our system, then I don't think you should be disqualified simply because you disagree with the contents of the law," he said.

"On the other hand, if you have no regard for One Country, no regard for the One Country-Two Systems - in fact you want Hong Kong to be independent - then I find it very difficult to argue that you are in a position to uphold the Basic Law. And, if that is so, then I think your qualification to run for a Legco seat is very much in question."

Tong also said the freedom to protest would still be protected by the Basic Law when the legislation takes effect. He said people would still be able to call for officials to step down, as long as they didn't aim to overthrow the government.