Tag Archives: China

     The Department of Justice (DoJ) today (June 8) held the National Security Legal Forum with the theme of “Looking Back and Ahead, New Dawn for Development”, inviting a number of senior government officials, internationally renowned legal experts and academics to share their insights on national security issues, such as the implementation and development of jurisprudence of the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL), as well as the “dual legislation and dual enforcement mechanism” institutional safeguard constituted along with the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO). Panel discussions among representatives from the financial and business sectors, and the interactive session between the Secretary for Justice and young people enabled members from different sectors to have a better understanding of national security, thereby dispelling misconceptions on the laws on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong and encouraging the public to be more proactive and conscious in safeguarding national security. The event attracted about 1000 guests and participants attending.

     Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Nong Rong; and Vice-Chairperson of the Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) and Deputy Director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPCSC, Mr Zhang Yong, were invited to deliver keynote speeches at the forum.

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee; the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Mr Zheng Yanxiong; the Head of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Mr Dong Jingwei; the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR, Mr Cui Jianchun; and the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, delivered their opening remarks at forum.

     Speaking at the forum, Mr Lee said that safeguarding national security is the Government’s responsibility, as well as the obligation of the whole community of Hong Kong. He pointed out that Hong Kong had finally completed the local legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law in March this year, marking an important milestone in Hong Kong’s new journey from stability to prosperity. The NSL and the SNSO will be compatible and complementary, giving full play to the institutional advantages of “dual legislation and dual enforcement mechanism”, ensuring that Hong Kong can focus on creating a more prosperous and better home without worries.

     Mr Lam said that it is of crucial importance to build and reinforce the confidence of all sectors in the laws on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong, which was enacted and implemented strictly in accordance with the rule of law principle, and will have positive interaction with Hong Kong’s future development. The DoJ will, in collaboration with relevant bureaux and departments, continue to promote and enhance education on the laws on safeguarding national security and other topics related to Hong Kong’s legal system and the rule of law through various means, so as to strengthen the trust of members of the public, and enhance their willingness to respect and obey the law as a matter of course.

     There were four panel sessions at the forum. In the first session, legal experts and academics reviewed the practical experience, development of jurisprudence and theoretical achievements of the NSL in light of previous case laws, with a view to demonstrating that the implementation of the NSL is fully compatible with the rule of law values, such as independent judicial power and fair trials, in which Hong Kong takes pride. The second session illustrated how the SNSO, following its implementation, works in tandem with the NSL in a compatible and complementary manner with mutual reinforcement in their enforcement and interpretation, fully leveraging on the strengths of the “dual legislation and dual enforcement mechanism”, so as to effectively respond to national security risks.

     In the third session, representatives from the financial and business sectors shared their views on how the HKSAR’s legal infrastructure for safeguarding national security creates a more stable environment for different sectors, and creates favourable conditions for high-quality development of the HKSAR. In the final session “Chat with SJ”, Mr Lam discussed with the audience and student representatives how national security is relevant to daily life, and the important role of youth in safeguarding national security.

     The Deputy Secretary for Justice, Mr Cheung Kwok-kwan, concluded the forum by thanking all guest speakers for sharing their insights and all the supporting organisations for their strong support. He pointed out that Hong Kong now has a comprehensive legal mechanism, in line with international standards, for safeguarding national security, fully protecting the legal rights and interests of investors and providing a more stable environment to help the HKSAR focus its efforts on developing a vibrant economy.

                          

Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:      Here is an item of interest to swimmers.      The Leisure and Cultural Services Department… read more

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, on civil service pay offers and the updated Civil Service Code at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (June 8):

Reporter: The overall updated Civil Service Code, like you mentioned, the more senior staff should be more cautious about like speaking out their opinions publicly. How would you define the senior level? Does that refer to specific titles, levels, authorities? Does that mean they should avoid attending any types of public campaign, like even those they are not directly opposing Government policies, for example, they attend a campaign that supports environmental awareness, even though the Government doesn’t have a strong stance against that. Could they do that? Secondly, about the three per cent salary adjustment for public servants, you’ve mentioned there isn’t much room for improvement or adjustment, but obviously the unions have expressed strong opposition against the increase level. So how concern about affecting the morale, like especially among the lower level civil servants?

Secretary for the Civil Service: I think for civil servants, it’s really a matter of gradation. The higher you move up, the more conscious of how even your private expressions, your private views would be interpreted by the public, whether your private views will be related to your official position. In these matters, it’s really a matter of gradation. It’s difficult to draw a solid line below which you can be very carefree about what you speak, above which you have to be really very cautious. As you move up, I think civil servants would have to really take care. And also civil servants working in different positions, working on different subject matters have to take care about what they said, in particular what their job is about. There are various factors to be considered.

     As to social activities, campaigns and so on, we have set out very clearly in the Code that civil servants can also have their political life. They can join social activities, except where we have strict rules about not being able to join. They can join. The principle is when they join social activities, they have to ensure that joining or participation in these social activities would not cause conflict of interest with their jobs and also their joining would not allow people or attract people to believe that they are representing the Government’s position or the activities they joined have Government backing or allow people to think that they are actually representing civil servants or a larger group of civil servants’ views. So they have to take care of all these when they participate in social activities.

     As to the three per cent increase, whether it will affect civil servants’ morale, I believe that civil servants will be able to understand that there are constraints on what the Government can do this year, especially given our very tight financial situation. And also I think as we progress with our various initiatives to improve livelihood and to improve the economy, there would be recognition of the public of what the civil servants have done. And this is also something that would be able to boost morale.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) read more

     Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) today (June 8) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Shanghai Municipal Talent Work Bureau in Hong Kong to deepen talent exchanges and co-operation between the two places.

     Member of the Standing Committee and Head of the Organization Department of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mr Zhang Wei; the Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Dr Wang Weiming; and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, jointly witnessed the signing of the MOU by Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Talent Work Bureau Mr Tan Puzhen and the Director of HKTE, Mr Anthony Lau. The MOU aimed to deepen talent exchanges and co-operation between Hong Kong and Shanghai by strengthening co-operation between the two places in global talent attraction, services, employment and development, with a view to jointly developing the two places into talent hubs.

     Mr Sun said, “Both places reached a consensus at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Conference held in Hong Kong in April 2024 on talent co-operation and agreed to establish a comprehensive partnership between departments of the two places as well as a regular dialogue mechanism to promote collaboration on nurturing talent and talent services. In addition, from May 6, the Mainland authorities extended the period of stay for holders of an exit endorsement for business visit travelling to Hong Kong from seven days to 14 days and expanded the application of the exit endorsement for talent to Beijing and Shanghai. Together with the MOU signed today, such measures will further deepen talent exchanges between Hong Kong and Shanghai and promote the ‘southbound and northbound’ two-way flow of talent, which will facilitate talent in both places to pursue career, business and investment opportunities.”

     At the exchange session this morning, both sides updated each other on the policy initiatives of attracting and supporting talent and exchanged views on areas for strengthened co-operation as well as collaboration with enterprises in Hong Kong and Shanghai to promote talent exchanges.

      

     The Department of Justice launched the English version of “Annotations of the Hong Kong National Security Law and Sedition Offences in the Crimes Ordinance” in December last year, collating and summarising judgments concerning the Hong Kong National Security Law as well as sections 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200). The Chinese version of the Annotation is launched today (June 8). The Chinese and English versions have been uploaded to and can be accessed by public at the new dedicated website www.hknslannot.gov.hk/en.

     The Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, said, “All institutions, organisations and individuals in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have an obligation to abide by the Hong Kong National Security Law and local laws for safeguarding national security. This body of case-law helps us understand the requirements of our national security laws and how they are being applied by the courts.” He expressed gratitude to Professor Albert Chen for his admirable guidance and contributions, serving as the project’s Honorary Consultant Editor.

     In addition, the Department of Justice and the Security Bureau, following the publication of the “Articles and Reference Materials on the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR” in 2021, have recently complied more than 10 speeches and articles regarding Hong Kong National Security Law or Safeguarding National Security Ordinance published by officials of the Central Authorities and the HKSAR, experts and scholars between 2022 and April 2024, as well as the important documents concerning the “Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of Article 14 and Article 47 of the ‘Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’ “, in “Compendium 2024”, which is published today and uploaded to www.doj.gov.hk/en/publications/publications.html for public access. read more