'New Law Won't Be Used To Ban Election Hopefuls'

Former Legco president Tsang Yok-sing said on Saturday that he does not think Beijing is aiming to use its national security law for Hong Kong to disqualify election candidates.

Pro-democracy figures have suggested that the legislation will become a tool for the government to bar opposition candidates from running in September's Legco polls.

But Tsang questioned the logic behind such thinking during a seminar on the national security law organised by the Asia Pacific Law Association.

He said those deemed unsuitable can already be disqualified from the city's elections and anyone breaching the security law will be prosecuted, so there will be no need to screen them out of polls.

The former Legco president also said that although the SAR and Beijing authorities have been trumpeting the new law as a way to restore peace in Hong Kong, it will not immediately extinguish protest violence.

He said this is because much of the violence connected to the anti-government unrest is not related to national security.

Tsang said he thinks Beijing wants to use the new law to stamp out foreign interference in the SAR and prevent a "Hong Kong-style colour revolution".