Tung: don’t rule out security law

FORMER chief executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) says Beijing (北京 ) has the power to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, as enshrined in the Basic Law (《基本法》). He has a feeling that such a scenario could happen.

Tung had earlier praised Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s (梁振英) third policy address as pragmatic with far-sighted vision that addresses issues on safeguarding the city’s rule of law, boosting economic development and improving livelihoods.

Asked if he had meddled in Leung’s governance, Tung stressed he has the freedom to voice his opinions.

Tung also criticised the University of Hong Kong (香港大學) student union magazine Undergrad (《學苑》), saying the views of the writers would only cause unnecessary anxiety in the community. “The country’s sovereignty cannot be breached and its safety cannot be compromised,” he said.

Meanwhile, political analysts and lawmakers on both sides of the spectrum lashed out at a local deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC, 人大) who suggested the mainland’s national security laws should also apply to Hong Kong.

NPC deputy Ng Chau-pei (吳秋北) from the Federation of Trade Unions (工聯會) told Digital Broadcasting Corp’s (數碼電台) online radio that the national security laws, to be passed in March, could be applicable to Hong Kong and “selectively implemented”.

He said he would propose it to Beijing with other local deputies.

(The Standard, 21 January 2015)