Most views gathered support Article 23 plan: CE
Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday said most views the government has received on planned Basic Law Article 23 national security legislation support enacting the new laws. Speaking to reporters before the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lee said the government has received "a lot of opinions" since the month-long consultation period began in late January. "The general opinion gives me the impression that they are in support of the overall goal of enacting Article 23 to ensure that we protect ourselves when people want to cause damage to us," he said. "A lot of the opinions subscribe to the idea that this is a piece of legislation that will ensure when other people want to break into our house, cause harm or damage to us, the Article 23 enactment should be able to protect them from all these threats, attacks, break-ins and harm." Lee said authorities will submit the consultation results to Legco in due course, but he would not be drawn on when the government will table the relevant bill to the legislature. The leader said the administration will carry on with its work to enact Article 23 "at top speed", and that he believes Legco will consider the bill as quickly as possible.