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Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Straits Times
HK's national security law update brings China's Beijing office ‘out of the shadows'
On May 13, City Garden Hotel in the North Point district was designated a 'prohibited place' occupied by Beijing's Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong. SCREENGRAB: GOOGLE MAPS News analysis A HK hotel famed for S'pore food is now closed to the public. The reason: A national security law update HONG KONG – In front of a traffic junction in Hong Kong island's North Point district stands a nondescript building in white bearing the name 'City Garden Hotel'. For years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the hotel – owned by Singaporean tycoon Robert Ng's Sino Group – was a popular haunt among Singaporeans and Malaysians living in Hong Kong seeking an authentic taste of home at the Satay Inn restaurant housed within its basement. But now, both restaurant and hotel have closed their doors to the public; and the once-transparent floor-to-ceiling windows that punctuated the building's glossy black facade have been covered with frosted film, denying passers-by on the streets below any glimpse of what goes on inside. On May 13, City Garden Hotel was designated a 'prohibited place' occupied by Beijing's Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong. The designation is part of a series of new subsidiary laws that Hong Kong has enacted under its Article 23 national security legislation. The updates to Article 23 spell out more clearly the Beijing office's powers in exercising jurisdiction over national security cases in Hong Kong, essentially allowing it to operate more effectively and openly in the territory. They introduce six new offences to facilitate the work of Beijing's national security office in Hong Kong, and designate six sites occupied by the office as prohibited places to keep out spies. The new offences include giving the office false or misleading information and failing to keep secret its measures or investigations. They are punishable by jail terms of up to seven years and fines of as much as HK$500,000 (S$82,400). The prohibited sites comprise City Garden Hotel, Island Pacific Hotel in Sai Ying Pun, two Metropark hotels in Causeway Bay and Hung Hom, and two areas in Tai Kok Tsui at which Beijing's national security office will be built. Trespassers who disobey police guard orders or obstruct their duties at these places face up to two years' jail. Those found spying there, such as inspecting the sites in person or through the use of electronic devices, can be jailed for up to 20 years. City Garden and Island Pacific are owned by Mr Ng and his family's Hong Kong-listed property developer Sino Group. The Singaporean billionaire and three of his children were in April designated by the Singapore government as 'politically significant persons' under the nation's foreign interference law aimed at preventing foreign influence in domestic politics. Mr Ng and his children Daryl, David and Nikki are members of China's top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Sino Group did not respond to queries from The Straits Times. The two other hotels are owned by China's state-owned China Travel Service. The enactment of the new subsidiary laws to Article 23 came swiftly – barely a day after the proposal was disclosed and tabled in the Legislative Council (LegCo) on May 12. Bills typically have to be gazetted, or made known to the public, and then pass through three LegCo readings – which can vary from a day to more than a year – before they are enacted. But these new laws were passed through a so-called 'negative vetting' process that allowed for them to take effect before being reviewed by lawmakers. The legislature completed its scrutiny of the regulations two days after their enactment. Chief Executive John Lee said the legislation's swift enactment was 'imperative' to 'ensure legal certainty' and combat threats to Hong Kong amid growing global instability. Such threats 'are like viruses (that) always exist around us, poised to cause harm', Mr Lee told the media at his weekly press conference on May 20. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post cited a source familiar with the legislative agenda as saying that developments in the US-China tariff war on May 12 made it 'a prime window for Hong Kong to fast-track the legislation when the global news agenda was on the trade truce'. It would allow the move to escape foreign media attention and criticism. China and the United States agreed to slash reciprocal tariffs on each other that day. The US would be ' very unlikely' to impose new punitive measures against Hong Kong over the new laws during this period, the newspaper quoted the unnamed source as saying. At the presser, Mr Lee sought to assuage concerns that the update grants more powers to Beijing's national security office in Hong Kong. 'The subsidiary legislation does not grant new powers to the (office),' he said. 'It provides a clearer and more detailed description of the powers that already exist under the present law, thereby increasing legal certainty and precision.' A national security law was first imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in June 2020 after mass anti-government protests in 2019. That allowed the mainland authorities to set up a national security office in the territory with the power to gather intelligence and enforce the law . This office can exercise jurisdiction over a national security case in Hong Kong under 'special circumstances', such as when it is 'complex' and involves foreign countries, if the local government is unable to do so itself, or in the face of a 'major and imminent threat'. Hong Kong later enacted its own complementary-but-broader legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city's mini-Constitution, in March 2024. Professor John Burns, from the University of Hong Kong's (HKU) politics and public administration department, said the updates to Article 23 are 'implementation rules to help officers from Beijing's national security office carry out their work in Hong Kong'. 'The office has been operating in the shadows. The new laws now make it more transparent, so that it can more directly and openly operate in Hong Kong,' he told ST. 'The new laws haven't added to the office's powers; it's already very powerful. But the laws clarify what the office can do and list them out specifically.' Professor Simon Young, a practising barrister and HKU law professor, said the regulations 'serve to normalise the mainland office as a Hong Kong law enforcement agency'. They do not signal whether the office is more likely to exercise jurisdiction over security cases in Hong Kong, Prof Young told ST , adding, however, that they ' do suggest that there will be closer cooperation between the mainland office and local law enforcement agencies to better protect national security'. At Mr Lee's May 20 presser, the Chief Executive skirted a reporter's question on how many staff were under the office's employ. Local media have previously reported that the City Garden and Island Pacific hotels were being used by the office for staff accommodation, while the Metropark Hotel in Causeway Bay has been its temporary headquarters since July 2020. Together, City Garden and Island Pacific provide 948 rooms for accommodation, while the two Metropark Hotels in Causeway Bay and Hung Hom have a combined 753 rooms. 'These figures indicate a significant increase in the number of personnel stationed in Hong Kong since the mainland office was initially established in 2020 ,' Prof Burns said. 'It brings to everyone's attention that a fairly large central government police force is operating in Hong Kong.' Magdalene Fung is The Straits Times' Hong Kong correspondent. She is a Singaporean who has spent about a decade living and working in Hong Kong. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
HKFP
15-05-2025
- Politics
- HKFP
Hong Kong legislature to form subcommittee to oversee new updates to Article 23
Hong Kong's legislature will form a subcommittee to oversee two new pieces of subsidiary legislation under the city's homegrown national security law, appointing the same roster of lawmakers who oversaw its passage last year. The decision was made during a Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting on Thursday morning, just two days after Hong Kong enacted the new subsidiary laws under the city's domestic security law, also called Article 23, including the imposition of a maximum jail term of seven years for disclosing investigations by Beijing's national security office. The government also announced on Tuesday that six sites occupied by Beijing's Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) in Hong Kong were designated as 'prohibited places' under Article 23. At the Thursday meeting, which lasted just under seven minutes, House Committee chair Starry Lee quoted a letter from Secretary for Security Chris Tang, referring to 'escalating geopolitical tensions' and risks of national security threats emerging 'all of a sudden.' Lee, as well as the other lawmakers who presented their views at the Thursday meeting, supported the legislation, saying that there was a pressing need for the legislative work on the two new laws to be completed. Lawmaker Chan Kin-por recommended setting up a subcommittee in relation to the two pieces of subsidiary national security legislation, suggesting that it comprise the same 15 lawmakers who oversaw the passage of Article 23 last year. 'The two articles are made under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. In order to maintain continuity, I suggest that the chairperson, deputy chairperson, and members of the Safeguarding National Security Bills Committee be on the subcommittee,' he said. According to LegCo records, the bills committee was chaired by veteran lawmaker Martin Liao, whom the government previously said had 'facilitated the smooth passage of a number of important bills' in the legislature, including the domestic security law. Legislator Gary Chan of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong is the deputy chair of the subcommittee. Also on the subcommittee are lawmakers Regina Ip, Tommy Cheung, Stanley Ng, and Holden Chow. The two subsidiary law changes were enacted on Tuesday under a 'negative vetting' procedure, allowing them to be first published in the gazette before being formally brought to the legislature for scrutiny. According to the legislation gazetted on Tuesday, anyone who discloses any information related to the measures and investigations by Beijing's Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) in Hong Kong can face a fine of up to HK$500,000 and imprisonment for up to seven years. Anyone who provides false or misleading information to the office is also liable to conviction and can be punished with a maximum fine of HK$500,000 and a jail sentence of up to seven years. Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, and theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of up to 16 days, suspects' access to lawyers may be restricted, and penalties can involve up to life in prison. Its legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests, and it remained taboo until 2024 when it was fast-tracked at the city's opposition-free legislature.
RTHK
15-05-2025
- Politics
- RTHK
Lawmakers vet new national security subsidiary laws
Lawmakers vet new national security subsidiary laws Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said officers will ask people to leave the prohibited places in the event of an inadvertent entry. The government said on Thursday people won't violate national security laws if they simply take pictures of or go near six Office for Safeguarding National Security locations that have been declared as prohibited places this week. The prohibition placed on the six locations took effect on Tuesday in line with new subsidiary legislation tabled under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. Officials noted that under the ordinance, those who approach or inspect, enter or get close to the places with intent to endanger national security could be considered to have committed espionage, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years. People who inspect, enter or access the prohibited places without authorisation could also be jailed for up to two years. At a subcommittee scrutinising the subsidiary laws by negative vetting, lawmaker Kitson Yang asked if it's a crime to take a picture of the office when people walk by. He's also concerned that two of the prohibited places which are in Tai Kok Tsui are located next to schools, saying students may enter the places inadvertently. DAB chairman Gary Chan added that some of the premises are "just a step next to passageways" used by the general public, saying that "people could drop a coin into the prohibited places" [and then look for it]. Security minister Chris Tang told Yang that the public need not worry about inadvertent violations of the law. "Criminal intent is required as, for example, when one enters the area for espionage activities," he said. "Just passing by and taking a photo doesn't constitute a criminal intent." Tang added there are clear signs next to the banned places, and if needed, police officers can liaise with schools to explain the laws to students and teachers. For his part, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said the places are guarded by officers, who are empowered under the law to ask anyone to leave immediately after an inadvertent entry. He said it would be a crime if the person ignores such an order. Lam also explained to subcommittee chair Martin Liao why SAR authorities have extraterritorial jurisdiction only for the crime of giving false or misleading testimony or information. He said this is an exemption clause under the subsidiary laws made in the event that a person gives false testimony in a security trial on the mainland. The subcommittee was formed under the House Committee on Thursday morning, comprising the same 15 lawmakers who vetted the security bill under Article 23 of the Basic Law last year. Committee chair Starry Lee said the deadline for lawmakers to propose changes to the laws is June 11, and the minimum notice period for such proposals is seven days.
Business Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Times
Hong Kong rushes to beef up security law, cementing China's grip
[HONG KONG] Hong Kong fast-tracked new national security rules that further consolidate Beijing's control over the financial hub, with the changes taking effect immediately. The government on Tuesday (May 13) gazetted measures to facilitate the work of Beijing's national security office in the city, including new penalties for failing to comply with investigations. Premises used by the body – known as the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) – will be designated 'prohibited places,' according to an official statement. The swift roll-out underscores the government's urgency in reinforcing security controls as geopolitical frictions grow. Beijing's reaction to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's sale of port assets – including two in Panama – amid the US-China trade war has already prompted some wealthy investors to reassess their exposure to the former British colony. The legislation was made just a day after the authorities disclosed the proposals for it, using a so-called negative vetting process that allows the law to take effect before being reviewed by lawmakers. A spokesperson for the Hong Kong government said the measures fulfil a constitutional duty to counter 'increasingly turbulent global geopolitical' risks, without naming any country. 'The new regulations bring us a step closer to normalising the mainland office as a law enforcement body in Hong Kong with suitable protections under the law,' said Simon Young, a legal professor at the University of Hong Kong. The rules include provisions requiring public servants to assist the OSNS and granting immunity from civil liability to anyone who complies with the office's orders. Disclosing an investigation by the OSNS or failing to follow its directives can result in up to seven years in prison. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Beijing is effectively carving up ''extra-territorial' pockets for China's criminal system within Hong Kong,' according to Victoria Hui, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. Hong Kong maintains a separate and independent judicial system from mainland China. Hui said allowing Beijing to handle national security cases in the city helps minimise potential backlash to what she called repression. 'Extraditing political prisoners across the border still looks bad,' she said, referring to Hong Kong's controversial 2019 attempt to pass legislation to allow fugitive transfers to the mainland. Prohibited sites The government marked six sites as prohibited areas, including a hotel in the Causeway Bay neighbourhood that was turned into the OSNS's temporary office and two locations in Kowloon being built into permanent sites for the agency. Entering such places without a permit is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine. The new rules were gazetted as subsidiary legislation under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance – a local law passed last year to complement the Beijing-imposed national security law enacted in 2020. That earlier law, introduced after widespread pro-democracy protests triggered by the since-withdrawn 2019 extradition bill, permits the OSNS to assume jurisdiction in cases deemed complex due to the involvement of a foreign country or posing major and imminent threats to national security. Authorities maintain the laws have restored stability and argue they do not affect the general public or normal business operations. BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hong Kong Rushes to Beef Up Security Law, Cementing China's Grip
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong fast-tracked new national security rules that further consolidate Beijing's control over the financial hub, with the changes taking effect immediately. As Coastline Erodes, One California City Considers 'Retreat Now' A New Central Park Amenity, Tailored to Its East Harlem Neighbors What's Behind the Rise in Serious Injuries on New York City's Streets? Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Policy on Migrant Children The government on Tuesday gazetted measures to facilitate the work of Beijing's national security office in the city, including new penalties for failing to comply with investigations. Premises used by the body — known as the Office for Safeguarding National Security — will be designated 'prohibited places,' according to an official statement. The swift roll-out underscores the government's urgency in reinforcing security controls as geopolitical frictions grow. Beijing's reaction to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's sale of port assets — including two in Panama — amid the US-China trade war has already prompted some wealthy investors to reassess their exposure to the former British colony. The legislation was made just a day after the authorities disclosed the proposals for it, using a so-called negative vetting process that allows the law to take effect before being reviewed by lawmakers. A spokesperson for the Hong Kong government said the measures fulfill a constitutional duty to counter 'increasingly turbulent global geopolitical' risks, without naming any country. 'The new regulations bring us a step closer to normalizing the mainland office as a law enforcement body in Hong Kong with suitable protections under the law,' said Simon Young, a legal professor at the University of Hong Kong. The rules include provisions requiring public servants to assist the OSNS and granting immunity from civil liability to anyone who complies with the office's orders. Disclosing an investigation by the OSNS or failing to follow its directives can result in up to seven years in prison. Beijing is effectively carving up ''extra-territorial' pockets for China's criminal system within Hong Kong,' according to Victoria Hui, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. Hong Kong maintains a separate and independent judicial system from mainland China. Hui said allowing Beijing to handle national security cases in the city helps minimize potential backlash to what she called repression. 'Extraditing political prisoners across the border still looks bad,' she said, referring to Hong Kong's controversial 2019 attempt to pass legislation to allow fugitive transfers to the mainland. Prohibited Sites The government marked six sites as prohibited areas, including a hotel in the Causeway Bay neighborhood that was turned into the OSNS's temporary office and two locations in Kowloon being built into permanent sites for the agency. Entering such places without a permit is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine. The new rules were gazetted as subsidiary legislation under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance — a local law passed last year to complement the Beijing-imposed national security law enacted in 2020. That earlier law, introduced after widespread pro-democracy protests triggered by the since-withdrawn 2019 extradition bill, permits the OSNS to assume jurisdiction in cases deemed complex due to the involvement of a foreign country or posing major and imminent threats to national security. Authorities maintain the laws have restored stability and argue they do not affect the general public or normal business operations. (Updates with comments, more details throughout.) Cartoon Network's Last Gasp DeepSeek's 'Tech Madman' Founder Is Threatening US Dominance in AI Race Trump Has Already Ruined Christmas The Recession Chatter Is Getting Louder. Watch These Metrics Why Obesity Drugs Are Getting Cheaper — and Also More Expensive ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
