This is the 1667th issue of "Hong Kong One Day"
Tang Bingqiang: International organizations will not be held responsible purely because of their status
The "Maintaining National Security Bill" was gazetted on the 8th and submitted to the Hong Kong SAR Legislative Council for review, and the 23-Article Legislative Bill Committee Four meetings were held today (9th). The Hong Kong Legal Professionals Association pointed out that the draft covers more than 20 newly formulated and revised national security charges and crimes derived from existing laws, as well as the penalties for each crime, extraterritorial legal effects, etc., and adds a number of legal procedures for law enforcement powers. . The
Association believes that the content of the draft is fully in line with the reality of Hong Kong. Compared with Singapore and Western countries, the content of the 23-article legislative draft is very mild or even loose. The association strongly condemns the actions of many Western countries that vilify Hong Kong and ignore the facts in order to discredit Hong Kong.
Some members believe that the "international organization" under "overseas forces" in the draft covers organizations whose members include one or more countries, regions or localities. Secretary for Security Tang Bingqiang said that no organization will bear any responsibility simply because it belongs to an "international organization" or "overseas force". must be accompanied by the criminal elements in the draft to constitute a crime. "International organizations" and "overseas forces" are neutral terms, and the word "enemy" used in previous legislation will no longer be used. The current international geopolitical situation is quite complex. The definition of "international organization" in the draft is appropriately loose and can effectively deal with national security risks when combined with relevant crime elements.
Deng Bingqiang mentioned that the "Chinese citizens" targeted in the "treason" provisions are defined according to the Chinese Nationality Law, that is, Hong Kong residents of Chinese descent who were born in Chinese territory, so generally foreigners have lived in Hong Kong for seven years or more. Hong Kong residents who are not of Chinese descent will not "fall into" the relevant situation. As for the "war" in the "treason" clause, it is a physical war, that is, "war". Financial, technological and other wars are handled by other laws.
Claims, rights or entitlements set out in the "Regulations on Disclosure of Treason by Others" set out on grounds of legal professional confidentiality shall not be affected. Secretary for Justice Lam Ting-kwok said that the Basic Law guarantees that everyone has the right to consult a lawyer. If someone consults a lawyer about whether it would be illegal to organize the military to overthrow the SAR or China, the entire consultation process needs to be kept confidential. If the lawyer does not disclose it to the outside world, it will not violate the law. ; If someone discloses an impending rebellion to a lawyer friend without consulting him, the lawyer would be committing an offense if he fails to disclose the information and is not protected by legal professional confidentiality.
Senior lawyer Tong Jiahua, a member of the Executive Council, said that the SAR government as a whole responded to the opinions raised by the society during the consultation period, including adding "public interest" as a defense for "state secrets"; and the draft bill is milder and more reasonable than other countries, and at the same time It stipulates that while safeguarding national security, we must also respect the individual rights stipulated in the Basic Law. I believe this can reassure those who have doubts about the draft. Regarding whether the broader coverage of the 23 draft provisions may be abused, he believes that the relevant threshold is high and will not weaken the spirit of safeguarding national security.
He Chaoqiong: Hong Kong should play the role of "super contact"
He Chaoqiong, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, spoke at the third plenary session of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference today (9th), saying that the Hong Kong SAR adheres to the " The foundation of "one country" and the benefit of "two systems" should be given full play to the advantages of financial, trade, legal, patent and other institutional systems, and the role of "super contact person" and "super value-added person" should be brought into play to promote the mainland to further integrate with the world. , and contribute its own strength to building a new higher-level open economic system.
Regarding how to leverage Hong Kong’s role in China’s construction of a new higher-level open economic system, Ho Chao-king put forward five suggestions, including developing more diversified financial instruments, strengthening financing functions, leveraging the advantages of Chinese and Western cultural integration, and creating international art exchanges. Center, develop high value-added shipping services, enhance the cold chain logistics capabilities of Hong Kong International Airport, and promote the construction of an intellectual property trade center.
Ho Wing-yin: The property market has become active again after the "removal of hot property". The waiting time for public housing will fall
Secretary of the Hong Kong Housing Bureau, Ho Wing-yin, said today (9th) that after the budget announced the complete "removal of hot property" in residential properties, the property market has become active again in recent days, which has made the housing market more active again. People have more choices and said that with sufficient supply, property prices will naturally adjust. The authorities will always monitor market trends.
Regarding the average waiting time for public housing rising to 5.8 years, when asked whether it would rise to 6 years again, Ho Wing-yin said that the latest waiting time did not reflect the reality. She said that the government has obtained sufficient land to fully meet the demand for 308,000 public housing units in the next 10 years. The current waiting time for public housing will last for several seasons. With the completion of simple public housing, it is believed that it will gradually decrease.
Author | Zhu Lanjing, chief writer of Shenzhen TV Direct News
