China’s top legislature will very likely pass the national security law it is drafting for Hong Kong in the upcoming meetings starting Sunday, vice chairperson of the Basic Law Committee Maira Tam said on Friday.

The bill, while not on the agenda of the three-day meetings of the National People’s Congress standing committee, would very likely be put to vote and passed then, Tam told RTHK.

She said usually three to four Hong Kong delegates to the NPC were invited to the meetings but the coming meeting would see about ten of them, in addition to members of the Basic Law Committee.

Tam did not know if the final draft is ready as consultation is still going on. But she believed the provisions would be stern enough to tackle issues effectively.

The NPC has not released the full text of the bill yet, but pro-Beijing figures in Hong Kong said it has been gauging views from different sectors in the city. Earlier, there were media reports saying people invited to such consultations were mostly pro-Beijing figures who have voiced support for the bill and opposition views were not heard.

Tam said people should not fundamentally oppose the legislation as Beijing had been waiting 23 years for Hong Kong to enact a national security law on its own.

“There has been a void period that has allowed foreign forces to interfere in Hong Kong affairs,” she said, “no countries in the world could have allowed such a loophole to exist for 23 years.”

She also said Hong Kong in principle has no say on the question of national security, but Beijing would “consider Hong Kong’s situation” and put its hands only on very special cases.

Meanwhile, two journalists’ groups in Hong Kong voiced their reservations about the bill on Friday.

The Hong Kong News Executives’ Association urged the NPC standing committee to release the full text of the bill and collect wider spectrums of views on the matter.

The Hong Kong Journalist Association issued an open letter to NPC standing committee chairman Li Zhanshu, urging the committee to shelve the bill, or at least launch an open and extensive consultation.

HKJA said the law would undermine Hong Kong journalists’ rights and work as mainland Chinese authorities, which would be empowered and given jurisdiction over certain cases, have a different set of standards for journalism.

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