HK delegates in Beijing say Article 23 bill reasonable
Local delegates to China’s parliament and its top advisory body on Friday said the clauses under Article 23 of the Basic Law are reasonable.  In Beijing, deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, Wong Yuk-shan, said the Article 23 national security legislation is long overdue, and brushed aside comments that the legislative progress was too fast.  “I think Article 23 is good to maintain the prosperity and the development of Hong Kong. This is very essential. I think there is enough time for people to have a consultation. This issue has been discussed in the society for many years,” he told RTHK. “So I think the time for consultation is enough. Actually, I think more than 98 percent of people have expressed their opinion to support this Article.” The draft bill proposed life imprisonment for several offences, including treason and insurrection.  Former chief secretary Henry Tang, who’s a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Standing Committee member, said the proposed punishment for these offences is appropriate. “I think for any very serious breaches of national security, the penalty should be severe because this penalty has to have an effective deterrent against those who are pondering, considering treason,” he said. “If you look at the security laws all over the world, all the penalties carry very heavy sentences.” Lawyer and local deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC) Nicholas Chan said he's not worried about the proposed life sentence punishment under Article 23. “If you look at globally around the world, in the US for example, if you breach the national security related regulations, including in the US Constitution, there will be a death penalty. So here we are being very fair. We are both common law jurisdictions, but over here all we're looking at is, at worst, life in prison,” he said. The draft bill also proposed that police could apply to the courts to extend the detention period for people suspected of endangering national security for up to two weeks.  Former police commissioner Andy Tsang, now a CPPCC member, said some other countries have even longer detention periods for national security offences. “It is well-based because of the practical need to secure national security, and also by comparing the current provision with relevant legislation in other common law jurisdictions, I think they are very comparable,” he said. Wilson Shum, local NPC deputy and a solicitor, also hoped Article 23 could be enacted as soon as possible. “It has been long overdue for about over 26 years. There has been a lot of discussion before. We had a month of consultation and the government received the majority of the opinions, the support,” he said. “So I think most people in Hong Kong support the enactment of the legislation under Article 23.”