Beijing official Xia Baolong to visit Hong Kong ahead of 5th anniversary of nat. security law
Beijing's top official on Hong Kong affairs will visit the city for five days this week to attend a forum marking the fifth anniversary of the national security law, Chief Executive John Lee has announced.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO), will visit Hong Kong from Wednesday to Sunday, Lee said at a weekly press briefing on Tuesday, ahead of the Executive Council meeting.
The main focus of Xia's visit will be to attend a national security law forum organised by the Hong Kong government on Saturday, Lee said.
The Chinese official, whom Lee said 'knows Hong Kong's situation very well,' will also inspect the city's 'economic situation and social development' during his five-day visit.
Lee added that he was 'very encouraged' by Xia's trip.
The Hong Kong leader said the government will maintain 'close communication' with the HKMAO before announcing details of Xia's itinerary.
Xia first visited Hong Kong in April 2023, during which he gave a keynote speech on the National Security Education Day.
At that time, he said the city 'seems peaceful' but some 'undercurrents are still simmering,' adding that the root of the 2019 extradition bill unrest had not been eliminated.
He made inspection visits to Hong Kong in February this year and last year. He visited Macau for six days last month.
Lee also said on Tuesday that a total of 332 people had been arrested for national security offences since the national security law was enacted on June 30, 2020.
The chief executive pointed out that on average, 66 people were apprehended under the security law each year – far lower than the average annual number of total arrests, which stood at around 30,000.
'Sixty-six out of 30,000, the percentage is 0.2. When we promulgated the national security law, we made it very clear that the law is aiming at only a small portion of people who endanger national security. This figure reinforces that clear message,' Lee said.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
In March 2024, Hong Kong enacted its homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage.
It allows for pre-charge detention of up to 16 days, and suspects' access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city's opposition-free legislature.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
2 hours ago
- HKFP
2 Hongkongers evacuated from Israel as conflict with Iran enters 8th day
At least two Hongkongers, along with more than 100 Chinese students, have been evacuated from Israel, as the country's conflict with Iran entered its eighth day. China's official state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday that the two Hongkongers were among a group of 119 Chinese nationals who entered Egypt on Thursday via the Taba border crossing, located at the southern end of Israel. Also on Thursday, Hong Kong issued a 'black' travel alert – the most serious level of its kind, meaning 'severe threat' – for Israel and Iran, warning against all travel to the two countries. A 24-hour hotline was set up for Hongkongers in the two Middle Eastern nations as the government urged them to also seek assistance from the Chinese embassy there. HKFP has reached out to the Immigration Department for information about Hongkongers currently in the two countries. The armed conflict between Israel and Iran entered the eighth day on Friday as the two longtime enemies continued to trade fire. The Israeli military said on X on Friday that its fighter jets struck 'dozens of military targets in Iran' overnight, including industrial sites used to make missiles and what Israel said were research centres for developing nuclear weapons in Tehran. What did the IDF accomplish in Iran overnight? ✈️60+ fighter jets struck dozens of military targets in Iran using approximately 120 munitions. ⭕️Several industrial sites used to manufacture missiles were struck in the Tehran area. These sites served as a key industrial center… — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 20, 2025 Iranian missiles hit a hospital in southern Israel as well as residential buildings in Tel Aviv on Thursday, wounding 240 people, according to AFP. The White House said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump will decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran 'within the next two weeks.' 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying. Meanwhile, China's President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for all parties, 'especially Israel,' to 'cease hostilities as soon as possible' in a phone call with Russia's Vladimir Putin, according to Xinhua. China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that close to 800 Chinese citizens had been evacuated from Iran since Israel began its strike against the country in the early hours of June 13.
HKFP
9 hours ago
- HKFP
EU bans Chinese firms from major state medical equipment contracts
The European Union on Friday banned Chinese firms from government medical device purchases worth more than five million euros (US$5.8 million) in retaliation for limits Beijing places on access to its own market. The latest salvo in trade tensions between the 27-nation bloc and China covers a wide range of healthcare supplies, from surgical masks to X-ray machines, that represent a market worth 150 billion euros in the EU. 'Our aim with these measures is to level the playing field for EU businesses,' the bloc's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said. 'We remain committed to dialogue with China to resolve these issues.' In response, China accused the EU of 'double standards'. 'The EU has always boasted that it is the most open market in the world, but in reality, it has gradually moved towards protectionism', foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing. 'Under the guise of fair competition (the EU) actually carries out unfair competition, which is a typical case of double standards.' The European Commission said in a statement the move was in 'response to China's longstanding exclusion of EU-made medical devices from Chinese government contracts.' Brussels said just under 90 percent of public procurement contracts for medical devices in China 'were subject to exclusionary and discriminatory measures' against EU firms. In addition to barring Chinese firms from major state purchases, 'inputs from China for successful bids' would also be limited to 50 percent, it said. Over the last three years, Brussels and Beijing have come into conflict in a number of economic sectors, including electric cars, the rail industry, solar panels and wind turbines. The decision on medical devices comes at a time of heightened trade tensions with President Donald Trump's United States, which has imposed customs surcharges on imports from all over the world, including Europe. The EU has decided to take a tougher stance on trade in recent years, adopting a vast arsenal of legislation to better defend its businesses against unfair competition. In April 2024, the commission opened an investigation into Chinese public contracts for medical devices, the first under a new mechanism introduced by the EU in 2022 to obtain better access to overseas state purchases. China, on the other hand, accuses Europe of protectionism. After a year of negotiations, the commission, which manages trade policy on behalf of the 27 member states, said it had failed to make any progress with China. 'The measure seeks to incentivise China to cease its discrimination against EU firms and EU-made medical devices and treat EU companies with the same openness as the EU does with Chinese companies and products,' Brussels said.
RTHK
10 hours ago
- RTHK
Chinese post-grad student gets life for rape spree
Chinese post-grad student gets life for rape spree Zou Zhenhao is suspected to have targeted 50 more women on top of the 10 he had raped in the UK and China. File photo: Reuters A Chinese post-graduate student convicted of drugging and raping 10 women in the UK and China and suspected of having attacked more has been jailed for life by a London court. Police in London say they have evidence to suggest Zou Zhenhao might have targeted more than 50 other women. Described in court as "calculated and predatory", Zou, 28, targeted young Chinese women whom he invited to his London flat for drinks or to study before drugging and attacking them. He filmed nine of the rapes with hidden or handheld cameras, but only three of the 10 victims have ever been identified. Sentencing him at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Rosina Cottage said there was "no doubt that you planned and executed a campaign of rape" that had caused "devastating and long term effects". To the world he appeared "well to do, ambitious and charming" but this was a mask hiding a "sexual predator", she said. He treated his victims "callously" as "sex toys" for his own gratification, and his desire to assert "power and control over women" meant that he would be a "risk for an indefinite period", she added. Zou, wearing a dark suit and glasses, listened impassively in the dock to the sentence via a translator. He will serve a minimum of 22 years in jail, after accounting for time already spent in custody. The former engineering student at University College London was found guilty by a jury in March of 28 offences including 11 counts of rape – with two of the counts relating to one woman – three counts of voyeurism and one of false imprisonment. He was found guilty of raping three women in London and seven in China between 2019 and 2023. He was also convicted of three counts of possessing butanediol – an industrial solvent – with intent to commit a sexual offence and 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image. Victims told the sentencing hearing in impact statements of the psychological damage they suffered including nightmares, self harm and a sense of despair and isolation. One recalled "wandering like a trapped animal trying to find an exit" after she was attacked. "What happened that night is etched into my soul forever," she said. (AFP)
