Lawmakers 'will help promote' Art 23 legislation
Some lawmakers on Thursday said they hoped the national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law could be enacted as soon as possible, adding that they would work with the government to promote the new laws. Legislator and Executive Councillor Jeffrey Lam of the Business and Professionals Alliance said he would try to explain the new legislation to overseas businessmen. “We, BPA as well as the business groups, we shall do our best to explain to the outside world about the article. In our point of view, the earlier the Article 23 is enacted, it's better for investment coming into Hong Kong because they are all looking for a more stable society,” he said.  Joephy Chan of the Federation of Trade Unions said her group had been educating students about the importance of national security.  “We would like to give our unshaken support for enactment of the national security law... Members of us have been giving talks in schools to explain importance of national security protection and doing consultation online and offline. Therefore, we've built a robust foundation for the enactment of Article 23,” she said.  Executive Councillor and Liberal Party lawmaker Tommy Cheung said lawmakers would carefully scrutinise the government's full draft legislation while listening to public views even if it's tabled directly to the legislature as a blue bill, without first going through a public consultation process. “There is a necessity for us to really get into Article 23 scrutinising the bill. I think the blue bill, as we look at each and every clause, we can also be doing consultation to the public to get information or to hear what every citizen wants to say about the Article 23," he said.  The DAB's Holden Chow also said a blue bill on the national security legislation wouldn't stop lawmakers from canvassing public opinion. “As usual, we do a lot of bills, on the consultation, with the blue bill way. So, it's also a way to showcase that we have a determination to finish completing the enactment of Article 23,” he said.  Meanwhile, Third Side legislator Tik Chi-yuen said the administration ought to explain to the public that the legislation would not undermine freedom of expression, assembly and the media.