National Security Likely To Feature At NPC Meetings

Beijing’s top legislative body will convene for its annual plenary session on Friday morning, with the introduction of national security legislation in Hong Kong likely to be on the agenda.

A local deputy to the National People’s Congress, Maggie Chan, said she plans to propose the idea of introducing the legislation without going through Hong Kong’s Legislative Council.

She said this can be done with Article 18 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that the standing committee of the NPC can include national laws in an annex of the city's Basic Law. Those laws can then be applied within Hong Kong through promulgation or local legislation.

That means the proposal would not be scrutinised by lawmakers.

The SAR government has been facing calls to restart the process for introducing national security laws under Article 23 of the Basic Law. The last attempt to pass such laws was abandoned in 2003 following massive protests.

However, the issue has drawn fresh attention following the mass anti-government demonstrations and social unrest that erupted last year.

Chan and her fellow deputies are expected to meet with state leaders during their stay in Beijing.

The annual plenary sessions had to be postponed for about two months because of the coronavirus outbreak. They’re now going ahead, but they will only last for a week instead of the usual two weeks.

The number of journalists allowed to report on site has also been limited, with many now relegated to covering the nation’s biggest political event online.