Scoop of the year: China’s state TV reported the passage of the Article 23 bill most efficiently…
When Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed a strict national security law under Article 23 of its mini-constitution, the long-expected move hit global headlines within minutes.
Yet China’s state broadcaster CCTV was faster than any of them — it beat out its competitors by posting the results of the vote to its news client on social media platforms nearly 20 minutes before Council members had even started voting.
The government and the Security Bureau both issue statements condemning overseas criticism of the new NatSec law. Both are eight generously-sized paragraphs long and cover much the same points – accusations of ‘smearing’, etc. But the government’s is slightly milder in tone…
“This legislation is indeed the aspiration of the people. After the unanimous passage of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance by the LegCo, members of the public and various sectors of the community including the commercial sector and major chambers of commerce, the legal sector (including the Law Society of Hong Kong), real estate association, the youth sector, other professional sectors and political parties, voiced support for the HKSAR Government’s legislative work through different channels such as issuing public statements. All those raising opposing comments were external forces, as the legislation will increase their cost of and difficulty in endangering our national security. During the public consultation period, the Government received over 13 000 submissions of opinions, of which 98.6 per cent showed support and gave positive comments, indicating that the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law has strong popular support.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang’s is a bit more ‘wolf warrior’…
“As a matter of fact, after the Ordinance was passed by the LegCo unanimously, members of the public and various sectors of the community including the commercial sector and major chambers of commerce, the legal sector (including the Law Society of Hong Kong), real estate association, the youth sector, other professional sectors and political parties welcomed and voiced support for the legislation. All those raising opposing comments were external forces, as the legislation will increase their cost of and difficulty in endangering our national security. The Ordinance is a piece of legislation to defend against external forces that endanger our national security, acting like a sturdier door and a more effective door lock to defend our home. Only invaders who want to intrude into our home to plunder and loot will object to Hong Kong’s legislation to safeguard the country. It is incumbent on us to tear off the mask of these external forces so that the public can see their true colours.
Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to ease off on the defiance and concede that there might be valid concerns about freedom and human rights? A less prickly comment comes from Regina Ip, who Tweets…
Professor Simon Young was spot on when he commented that the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance [Article 23] Law passed by Hong Kong’s legislature yesterday is of little relevance to Hong Kong people except four groups.
They are public officers, government contractors, people already on the radar screen of national security authorities and people in close contact with external organisations, including universities, NGOs, think tanks, professional bodies.
After the victory lap, government officials and lawmakers familiar with the subject should double down on their efforts to assuage the concerns of those who have legitimate queries.
The ‘little relevance’ thing is presumably an attempt to reassure. She assumes that ‘assuaging concerns’ is a priority – rather than, say, scaring people with the prospect of hefty prison sentences.
A post summarizes visitor arrivals to Hong Kong for January 2024 compared with January 2018…
China ↓27.4%
(Jan 2024: 2.98M, Jan 2018: 4.11M)
Taiwan ↓41.0%
South/Southeast Asia ↓12.5%
North Asia ↓47.3%
Australia, NZ, South Pacific ↓28.9%
Americas ↓34.9%
Europe ↓44.5%
Middle East ↓68.7%
Exchange rates haven’t helped, but this clearly goes beyond that. The government’s response (as with attempts to replace emigrating residents) is to try shoveling more Mainlanders in to keep the raw numbers up.