Hong Kong’s police chief said that the city has the means to deal with the national security case against Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, but didn’t rule out a request from either Beijing or the Hong Kong government for mainland authorities to take over.

Both Beijing and Hong Kong can decide if mainland authorities need to take over and directly handle the national security case involving Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s police chief said.

This can happen when the case involves complex external factors, or if the Hong Kong government faces difficulty handling the case itself, Police Commissioner Chris Tang told pro-Beijing media, citing Article 55 of the national security law.

The provision states that the Office for Safeguarding National Security, established by and reporting directly to Beijing, can request central government approval to take over national security cases. It can also do so following Beijing’s approval of such a request by Hong Kong.

Article 56 of the law states that in such cases, the office will be responsible for investigations, the mainland’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate for prosecuting and the Supreme People’s Courts shall adjudicate.

Lai is accused of colluding with foriegn powers, a new offense created under the national security law imposed by Beijing last June. The Court of Final Appeal revoked a lower court’s decision to grant him bail and sent Lai back to jail amid an ongoing campaign by pro-Beijing media calling for the central government to step in.

Tang praised the implementation of the national security law for having had a positive effect on Hong Kong’s law and order, pointing out that those protesters who had called for Hong Kong independence or for foreign sanctions had largely disappeared.

Tang is on a list of Hong Kong and mainland officials sanctioned by the United States for suppressing freedoms and rights in Hong Kong.

The sanctions prohibit banks and financial institutions from engaging in significant transactions with those on the list. Shortly before the sanctions were announced last August, Tang transferred a mortgage from HSBC to Bank of China (Hong Kong).

Tang said he “didn’t feel anything” about the sanctions and that he has little in the way of expectations from what he described as the U.S. hegemony.

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