Drive to enact Article 23 'close to finish line'

Michael Shum

The bills committee completed scrutinizing all the amendments to the Basic Law Article 23 legislation yesterday and will report to the House Committee today, as Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said they are "close to the finish line."

After bills committee chairman Martin Liao Cheung-kong reports to the House Committee, the bill can resume its second and third readings at the Legislative Council meeting this month.

The bills committee finished scrutinizing all 40 amendments at around 12.37pm yesterday, as lawmakers expressed their support for the government to resume the second reading of the bill at the Legco meeting as soon as possible.

Lam thanked members of the committee for raising "constructive" questions, which prompted the government to reconsider some of the clauses.

"Their questions also allowed citizens to have a clearer understanding of the bill. This shows that Hong Kong's executive and legislative bodies are doing their part and pushing the Basic Law Article 23 close to the finish line," he said.

However, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung strongly condemned local Chinese newspaper Ming Pao for its "vicious and misleading" headline, deeming it a "huge blow" to its credibility.

This came after Ming Pao used a headline in its issue yesterday that the amendments will "step up management over the media" and "suspects of four categories of crimes could be tried in the mainland".

"[What the newspaper claimed] is false, is wrong and incorrect," Tang said. "The Article 23 legislation is a domestic legislation, so all crimes will be dealt with in HK, and the report caused misunderstanding among citizens and unnecessary attention towards the bill."

Ming Pao subsequently issued a statement on its website, apologizing for the "inaccurate and misleading" headline.

Signaling the end of the committee's work, Liao praised all its members for having "fulfilled their duties and responsibilities.

"The six-day meeting marathon meant we had to have lunch in the conference room, and our brains were filled with the legislation bill," Liao said.

"But we all soldiered on towards the finish line together, and I believe everyone will be honored to be participating in this extremely meaningful historic mission."

Liao expected to make a report to the House Committee today, with the bill expected to be passed as early as next week.

According to Legco's Rules of Procedures, the government has to give notice of business for council meetings 12 clear days before they can table a bill for the resumption of second and third readings, which are required in passing the bill into law.

But Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen can exempt the giving of notice of business, which would allow the bill to resume second and third readings on Wednesday. If Leung refuses to issue the exemption, the bill will resume second and third readings on March 27 at the earliest.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com