Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday said that the territory would create a host of new national security crimes, as she presided over the first session of a new “patriots only” Legislative Council scrubbed of political opposition.
The legislation would add to a sweeping National Security Law imposed directly on Hong Kong by Beijing that has transformed the territory and empowered authorities to carry out a widespread crackdown on dissent.
The current National Security Law defines four crimes — secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces — and offenders can face up to life in prison.
Photo: Bloomberg
However, Lam yesterday confirmed that her government would create new “local legislation” that meets Article 23 of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, which calls for the territory to pass its own national security laws.
“Article 23 legislative work is part of Hong Kong’s constitutional duty and cannot be further delayed,” Lam told lawmakers, adding that the government aimed to publish a draft by June.
Lam did not outline what the new crimes would be.
However, the specific offenses Article 23 lists are treason, secession, sedition, subversion and theft of state secrets. It also includes prohibiting any foreign political organizations from conducting activities in Hong Kong or local political organizations establishing ties with similar overseas bodies.
Lam also used the opportunity to criticize former legislators who she said were “anti-China and who have attempted to destabilize Hong Kong, had tried to politicize council businesses and made it difficult for LegCo to fully perform its functions.”
Since the expulsion or resignation of opposition legislators, the council has enjoyed a “fruitful year marked with a constructive and interactive relationship between the LegCo and the executive authorities with remarkable achievements,” she added.
A small committee of Beijing loyalists are to choose Hong Kong’s next leader in March, and Lam has not yet said whether she would stand for a second term.
Her first term ends in June.
Lam said it would be difficult for the new national security bill to be completed by the end of her first term, meaning the legislation would probably fall to her successor.
Addressing a chamber whose walls now bear China’s red-and-gold national emblem — placed above Hong Kong’s official seal — Lam praised Beijing’s security law.
“Its function now is to act as an anchor to guarantee stability, to let people know there are consequences,” she told lawmakers, adding that the new legislation would be similarly “well written.”
“The law requires us to prevent, curb and punish crimes. If prevention is done well, we can punish less,” she said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS