Hong Kong’s Executive Council ‘to convene this afternoon for urgent meeting on coming domestic national security law’

Ding, whose leading group is the de facto highest decision-making body on Hong Kong affairs, also told attendees that the swift enactment of the law should be at the top of the agenda for the city.

‘Hong Kong CPPCC members must be totally committed to supporting security law’

Leung Che-cheung, a CPPCC member and a former lawmaker, said Ding’s remarks meant that the domestic security bill could be passed “in a month or two” in the Legislative Council.

The home-grown national security legislation mandated by Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, seeks to outlaw five new types of offences: treason; insurrection, incitement to mutiny and disaffection, and acts with seditious intention; sabotage; foreign interference; theft of state secrets and espionage.

Earlier on Thursday, lawmakers questioned government officials on the results of a one-month public consultation on the security law.

Officials said they would set a high threshold with “objective” criteria to avoid abuses of a public interest defence in the disclosure of state secrets.