The Hong Kong government has attempted to enact the Basic Law Article 23, a similar law to the currently proposed draft, in February 2003, but was forced to shelve it after a massive demonstration against it.[17] In 2019, the government proposed the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill which sparked the large-scale 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests forcing the government to withdraw it.[18] As the central government of the People's Republic of China decides that the Hong Kong administration is unable to pass the local legislation to enact laws on national security, it turns to the National People’s Congress to legislate such a law.[3]