Hong Kong is set to cede jurisdiction over certain cases on national security to a new dedicated office to be established by the Chinese government, under upcoming legislation being drafted for the city, Chinese state media has said in a report.

The new national security legislation will be empowered to override Hong Kong’s local laws in the event of conflicting provisions, according to an explanation of the draft law issued by the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

Xinhua also said that China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, had the ultimate power to interpret the new law, which is being written by the NPC Standing Committee’s Legislative Affairs Commission.

The new national security office planned for Hong Kong would have jurisdiction, alongside the relevant mainland Chinese agencies, under specified circumstances in a minimum of cases about endangering national security, Xinhua said without elaborating.

Such an arrangement would help prevent a state of emergency as provided for in Article 18 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, Xinhua said, adding that the office should follow Hong Kong laws and not infringe upon others’ rights.

The office would also analyze the city’s situation in defending national security; monitor, guide, coordinate with and support the Hong Kong government on national security matters; and collect information about crimes related to national security and handle them in accordance with the law, Xinhua said.

Four kinds of crimes will be covered by the new law, namely secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces, according to Xinhua’s explanation.

When national security cases are sent to Hong Kong courts, the city’s chief executive should pick the judges, according to the explanation — contrary to the existing arrangement whereby the city’s independent judiciary assigns judges to cases.

The explanation further said that a national security commission would be set up in Hong Kong, reporting to the central government. It would analyze the national security situation and formulate policies.

The commission will be headed by Hong Kong’s chief executive, with members including the chief secretary, financial secretary, secretary for justice, secretary for security and commissioner of police. The head of a new national security defence department under the police force, the immigration chief, the customs chief and the head of the chief executive’s office will also serve on the commission.

In addition, Beijing will appoint a national security adviser to the office. The Justice Department will also form a new section to work specifically on national security cases.

Tam Yiu-chung, one of Hong Kong’s delegates to the NPC, told i-Cable news that the draft law reflected Beijing had “maximum trust” in the Hong Kong government as it would have jurisdiction over most cases.

He noted that the draft law also mentioned Hong Kong should protect human rights in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The draft law has Hong Kong’s common law system into consideration to the maximum extent,” he said.

Tam said it was necessary to appoint a mainland adviser to the national security commission because some cases might be too complicated for Hong Kong to handle. Asked in what circumstances Beijing would have jurisdiction, Tam said the details would be revealed in an upcoming draft of the law.

Civic Party lawmaker Alvin Yeung said the law had ended Hong Kong’s governing principle of “one country, two systems” by inserting its power into Hong Kong’s executive branch. He said the law provided no standards as to how the chief executive should select judges for national security cases.

“Would judges be removed if they are not favored by Beijing? There are a lot of uncertainties and this is worrying,” he said.

Yeung questioned if the adviser appointed by the mainland would effectively become the Communist Party of China’s secretary to Hong Kong. “This is a violation of ‘one country, two systems’ and the rule of law,” he said.

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