Tam Yiu-chung Hoping For Article 23 By August 2021

Hong Kong's sole delegate to China's top legislative body, Tam Yiu-chung, says it's his hope that national security legislation will be enacted here by August next year but that's not a timetable set by Beijing.

The DAB stalwart said on Sunday that legislating for Article 23 of the Basic Law was a matter for the SAR government.

Tam noted proposals raised by other pro-Beijing figures, such as having the national version of subversion laws listed in annex III of the Basic Law, could be a way of handling the legislation. However, he said he believed the Hong Kong government would look at the different methods in detail.

The delegate to the National People's Congress Standing Committee refused to say whether his standpoint would result in the pro-establishment camp losing votes in this September's Legco election, saying only that he wished the camp success.

He said members of the public had asked him how fast national security laws could be enacted. He said they thought having such laws would put a stop to the "chaos and violence" seen in Hong Kong over the past year.

Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong on Saturday criticised the so-called "yellow economic circle", where anti-government protesters support industries and shops that are supportive of their cause.

In a statement, the office accused the opposition of trying to create social divisions and of "using political means to hold the economy to ransom".

Speaking after appearing on a Commercial Radio programme, Tam said he thought the office's comments had substance.

"Surely, nobody can affect how people consume, it's their own choice," Tam said.

Tam said the office was raising the question of whether "mutual destruction" would have a negative effect across society.