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Editorial: The national security legislation would kill Hong Kong (Apple Daily HK)

蘋果日報 2020/06/22 13:54


by Lo Fung
Honestly, there is no disappointment at all about the details of the Hong Kong version of National Security Law (“National Security Law”) just released. One would not be upset if one expects nothing. As the idiom says, “the devil is in the details.” Yet in this case, the “devil” has already thrusted itself through the heart of our city. The details of the legislation are just to show how sharp and lethal the devil’s fangs and claws could be.
With just a glance at the draft of the National Security Law released by the official media, one would easily see that this law transplanted by Beijing directly into Hong Kong would totally damage the principles and purposes of “one country, two systems. It would take away the legal protection for the unique system and lifestyle of Hong Kong. It would seriously hurt the rule of law and judicial independence, as well as letting power be rested one-sidedly on the Chief Executive and law enforcement bodies, especially the abusive police force.
Placing a Party Secretary above the Chief Executive
According to the details of the legislation made public, Beijing will appoint a National Security Adviser to “support” the Chief Executive on matters related to national security, and set up a National Security Bureau in Hong Kong reporting directly to Beijing. The National Security Bureau would have power and responsibility on matters related to national security, including supervising and directing the Hong Kong government how to handle national security issues. Compared to the Liaison Office and the Foreign Affairs Commissioner, the National Security Bureau would have much stronger power and a much broader scope of affairs to deal with. It would have full power to step in even education, and all areas which are supposed to be under the autonomous administration of Hong Kong.
In short, the National Security Bureau is a party organization placed above the Hong Kong government, and the National Security Adviser is the party secretary supervising the Chief Executive, with the power to instruct the latter directly about her work. In doing so, Beijing would transplant its political operation into the Special Administrative Region and completely destroy the unique system of Hong Kong.
Worse still, the National Security Bureau would have the power to directly handle crimes endangering national security, which means that officers of the Bureau could act in Hong Kong like national security officers in the Mainland. They would have the power to enforce the law, including the power to arrest the accused directly without going through Hong Kong police, and even to send the arrested to the Mainland for prosecution and trial. According to the Xinhua News Agency release, “The National Security Bureau based in Hong Kong and relevant state departments can, under special circumstances, exert their jurisdiction over very few cases that threaten national security. This is an important manifestation of the total governance of the central government….” In the linguistic context of the Mainland, the exertion of jurisdiction implies a total control over public security, prosecution and judiciary, meaning that the power of arrest, prosecution and trial is all centralized in one hand. The extradition legislation last year that was just aimed at sending suspects to the Mainland for trial already caused a big row and strong opposition in Hong Kong and in the international arena. It was considered as breaking the rule of law in Hong Kong and a serious damage to “one country two systems”. The National Security Law just revealed is like opening the gate to welcome Mainland operations of public security, prosecution and judiciary. The Mainland law enforcement officers could come to Hong Kong whenever they like to do whatever they want. Is this not going to tear down “one country two systems”?
The new law does not only put the National Security Adviser on top of the Chief Executive, but also place the Chief Executive above the Court and the Chief Justice. According to the information released, though the court of Hong Kong has the power to try cases related to national security, the Courts and their Chief Judges could not appoint judges as per the established protocol. The judges(former or incumbent) for national security cases would have to be appointed by the Chief Executive, and it is highly likely that a jury would not be appointed to participate in the trial.
One should note that any society which practices the rule of law with judicial independence would not allow the Chief Executive to appoint judges for the court, as it would imply that political needs and concerns would be ranked above judicial procedures, biasing in favor of the government, and significantly weakening the rights of and protection for the accused for the opportunity of a fair trial.
On the other hand, giving the Chief Executive the right to appoint dedicated judges for national security cases is equivalent to setting up a separate system within the judiciary that is not monitored and supervised by the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. In case of mishandling on the part of the concerned judges leading to errors against judicial principles, the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal would have no right to rectify it and could only let the errors accumulate and grow. This would not only weaken the authority of the Court of Final Appeal but also hurt the credibility of the Court to local citizens and the international society. This would be the same as destroying overnight the cornerstone of the prosperity of Hong Kong!
What also cannot be ignored is the ever- increasing power of the police under the National Security Law which would unleash them from any control. Under the current system, the police already have expansive power that is not monitored by any legitimate watchdog. In the past year, they were not penalized at all for suppressing the civilian protests with excessive violence and abusive power. The new National Security Law would further strengthen their resources and legal weapons, including surveillance on communication and activities of targeted people and organizations, and demanding banks and corporations to provide confidential information for investigation. All these would turn Hong Kong into a police state!
Hong Kong would become the same as any Mainland China city, as soon as our political protection is removed, the Chief Executive and the police are given unrestricted power, and the Mainland National Security officers are authorized to enforce law directly in Hong Kong!
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