'Mainland Agencies Won't Act Directly In HK'

A senior pro-Beijing commentator, Lau Siu-kai, said he believes that although mainland law enforcement agencies will establish a presence here, they will not directly enforce the law or give orders to the Hong Kong police.

Lau, a vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said he doesn't think the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security will directly command the police here.

Hong Kong law enforcement agencies follow orders from the Chief Executive, and it is the CE who is accountable to the central government, he said.

Lau said that foreign forces carrying out activities that endanger national security in Hong Kong will be sanctioned under the law.

But action – in cases where local politicians are found either colluding with foreign forces or calling for their intervention – would depend on the specific legal provisions that will be fleshed out by the National People's Congress.

Asked if the slogan “end one-party dictatorship” – often raised by opponents of the Chinese Communist Party – would be considered a violation of national security, Lau said that this was a grey area.

It depended on whether there is follow-up action aimed at subverting state power or if the slogan itself is regarded as an action, he said.