HKSAR gov’t opposes slanders on safeguarding national security ordinance

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Wednesday firmly opposed and strongly condemned the slanders and smears, as well as grossly misleading and false remarks made continuously by the United States and some Western countries, anti-China organizations, anti-China politicians, foreign media, and wanted persons having absconded overseas on the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.
The Legislative Council (LegCo) of the HKSAR on Tuesday unanimously passed the safeguarding national security bill, which has become the ordinance.
A spokesperson for the HKSAR government said that not only are those remarks totally unfounded and fact-twisting, but they also entirely disregarded the constitutional duty and practical needs of the HKSAR to legislate, and the positive effects brought by the enactment of the legislation on economic development and protection of human rights.
The spokesperson said it is the constitutional duty of the HKSAR to safeguard national security. Safeguarding national security is an inherent right of all sovereign states. Many common law jurisdictions, including such Western countries as the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand as well as Singapore, have enacted multiple pieces of legislation to safeguard national security.
The anti-China forces maliciously smeared the ordinance, turned a blind eye to the fact and made exaggerated remarks, demonstrating typical political hegemony and hypocrisy with double standards, the spokesperson said.
To effectively prevent, suppress and punish illegal acts endangering national security is precisely to better safeguard the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals and ensure the property and investments in the HKSAR are protected by law. Protecting human rights and respecting the principle of the rule of law are principles of the ordinance and have been included in the provisions, the spokesperson said.
The HKSAR government strongly urged these Western countries, anti-China organizations, anti-China politicians, media and wanted persons absconding overseas, all with ulterior motives, to stop smearing and interfering in Hong Kong affairs which are internal affairs of China. Their despicable manoeuvre with politics is doomed to fail.
The Security Bureau of the HKSAR government on Wednesday strongly disapproved of and firmly rejected the untruthful and biased remarks made by the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom David Cameron about the ordinance.
Secretary for security of the HKSAR government Tang Ping-keung said Cameron once again made untruthful and unreasonable remarks about the ordinance. They are sheer political smears and despicable political manoeuvres.
The ordinance was thoroughly discussed at the LegCo and the scrutiny was completed in a conscientious and prudent manner. It was not “rushed through the legislative process” as claimed groundlessly by Cameron.
Tang said that after the ordinance was passed by the LegCo unanimously, members of the public and various sectors of the community welcomed and voiced support for the legislation. All those raising opposing comments were external forces, as the legislation will increase their cost of and difficulty in endangering our national security.