Hong Kong has announced plans to introduce new subsidiary legislation to allow Beijing’s office overseeing national security in the city to better carry out its work while declaring its premises “prohibited places”.
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The proposed subsidiary legislation, which would supplement the domestic national security law enacted more than a year ago, came amid heightened geopolitical tensions between China and the United States.
Authorities said the subsidiary laws concerning the powers of the central government’s Office for Safeguarding National Security would be enacted via “negative vetting”, implying they would come into force on the date of gazettal before the legislature gave them the green light.
1. What is the Office for Safeguarding National Security?
Established in 2020 upon the promulgation of the Beijing-imposed national security law, the Office for Safeguarding National Security is responsible for supervising and guiding the Hong Kong government’s enforcement of the legislation.
However, the Beijing office does not have jurisdiction over national security cases in the city unless three exceptional circumstances laid out in Article 55 of the national security law arise.
Article 55 of the law stipulates that the office can exercise jurisdiction if a case is determined to be complex due to the involvement of a foreign country or external elements, and deemed a “serious situation” which renders the city government unable to enforce the law effectively or counter a “major and imminent threat to national security”.
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The office can take over a case upon approval by Beijing after a request made by the Hong Kong government or by the office itself.