No Timetable For Article 23: Security Secretary

The Secretary for Security John Lee said on Saturday the government has no timetable for Article 23 national security legislation.

Speaking on a radio programme, Lee said the government would continue to create an environment suitable for its passage.

His comments echo remarks made earlier in the week by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who said that while Hong Kong had become more harmonious in the past few months, the time was still not right for the legislation.

Lee also on Saturday disputed the US State Department’s assessment of Hong Kong’s human rights situation.

The annual report’s section on Hong Kong said the most significant issues affecting the city were the central government’s encroachment on the SAR’s autonomy, government actions that had a chilling effect on political protest and the exercise of free speech, and trafficking in persons.

Lee said freedom of speech and the freedom to protest are protected by the Basic Law, and they haven't been disrupted by the central government.

A government spokesman also said the successful implementation of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle had been widely recognized by the international community.

The spokesman added that foreign government should not interfere in any form in the internal affairs of the SAR.