China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) announced today (June 21) that the next meeting will be held in Beijing from June 28 to 30. Draft of the national security law for Hong Kong is expected to be reviewed, despite not specified on the agenda.
The NPCSC released details of the national security law planned for Hong Kong via state media Xinhua News Agency yesterday, after having ended their three-day meeting yesterday.
Conducting two meetings within half a month is indeed rare for China’s top lawmaking body, sources told Apple Daily. The move suggests Beijing’s intention to pass the controversial national security law for Hong Kong before July 1 in the hope of deterrence.

Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong's sole delegate to the NPCSC, told i-Cable news that he would not rule out the possibility of reviewing the draft of Hong Kong national security law in the upcoming meeting, though it is not on the agenda, not just yet.

Chairman of the NPC Li Zhanshu said that the draft of the "Amendment of the Patent Law" and amendment to the draft of "Law on the Protection of Underage Minors”, “Export Control Law” draft; Proposal for Review of the Draft Criminal Law amendment (Eleven), Proposal for Review of the Administrative Penalty Law Amendment Draft, and Proposal for Review of the Data Security Law will be discussed in the next meeting from June 28 to 30. There is no mention of the review of Hong Kong’s national security law draft.

A source told Apple Daily that none of the proposed items on the agenda are urgent. The draft of the "Amendment of the Patent Law" and the "Law on the Protection of Underage Minors", for instance, are not issues that need to be resolved immediately.

The only explanation for the additional meeting is to review the national security law for Hong Kong. The NPCSC is expected to review and approve the draft during the upcoming meeting and the law will take effect on the same day, according to the source

Chung Kim-wah, executive vice president of the Hong Kong Civil Research Institute, told Apple Daily that passing the national security law for Hong Kong before or after July 1 will not make a big difference. He thinks that the NPCSC’s rush for another meeting before July 1 suggests its intention to pass the draft as soon as possible. “They are cutting the Gordian knot, so as to force Europe and the United States to accept the fact that Hong Kong’s national security law is legislated”.

Ivan Choy Chi-keung, political commentator and senior lecturer in government and public administration at CUHK, believed that the NPCSC wants to pass the national security law ahead of July 1 for legitimating the disqualification of the democratic candidates as early as the nomination period of the Legislative Council.

Apart from the LegCo elections scheduled in September, last year’s LegCo break-in on July 1 also plays a part. According to China's Legislation Law, legal bills that are included in the agenda of the NPCSC should generally be reviewed for three meetings before being voted on. The NPCSC meeting is usually held every two months, usually in the second half of the bimonthly period. Each meeting usually lasts for about one week. The NPCSC chairperson may convene an urgent meeting in the case of special needs, however.

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