Explainer: 6 new offences, 6 ‘prohibited places’ – what to know about Hong Kong’s Article 23 security law update

Hong Kong enacted subsidiary legislation for its homegrown security law – known locally as Article 23 – this week to further facilitate China’s national security office in the city.

The Hong Kong government gazetted – and enacted – the new legislation on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after it was introduced during an extraordinary, off-schedule Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting on Monday.

The changes were enacted under a “negative vetting” procedure, allowing them to be first published in the gazette before being formally brought to the legislature for scrutiny.

A government spokesperson said on Tuesday that the update was made “against the increasingly turbulent global geopolitical landscape” and that its completion would be “the earlier the better.”

Under the new subsidiary laws, six new offences were created to facilitate the work of Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) in Hong Kong, and six sites occupied by the office were declared “prohibited places” to prevent intruders and spies.

A LegCo subcommittee, comprising the same 15 lawmakers who oversaw Article 23’s passage last year, did not raise any amendment proposals as it vetted the new laws for about five hours on Thursday.

The OSNS was established in July 2020, shortly after Beijing enacted a national security law in the city, in the wake of the 2019 pro-democracy protests and unrest.

Separate from the Beijing-imposed national security law, Article 23 – formally called the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance – was enacted in March 2024, after it was fast-tracked at the city’s opposition-free legislature.

Here is what you need to know about the subsidiary laws, from new offences to duties of the Hong Kong government:

6 new offences

Article 55 of the National Security Law stipulates that the OSNS shall exercise jurisdiction over a national security case in Hong Kong under any of three “special circumstances,” namely when the case is “complex” due to the involvement of foreign countries, when the city government is unable to enforce the national security law, or when a “major and imminent threat” to national security has occurred.

The Hong Kong government said the new subsidiary laws would provide the “implementation details” for the OSNS’ operation when such special circumstances arise.

The six new offences carry maximum penalties of years-long jail terms and fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Failing to comply with the OSNS’ legal instruments, providing false or misleading information or documents, disclosing the OSNS’ measures or investigations, as well as forging documents of the OSNS, could result in up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$500,000.

Resisting or obstructing OSNS staff in the performance of their duties, as well as pretending to be an OSNS staff member or pretending to be able to influence them, is punishable by up to three years behind bars and a fine of HK$200,000.

Besides the six offences, the new subsidiary laws also stipulate that information related to the work of the OSNS should be kept confidential and that people should not disclose such information without prior approval from the OSNS.

6 ‘prohibited places’

The six “prohibited places” include four hotels and the office’s future permanent headquarters in Kowloon.

They are: the Metropark Hotel Causeway Bay, the City Garden Hotel in North Point, the Island Pacific Hotel in Sai Wan, the Metropark Hotel Hung Hom, and two locations along Hoi Fan Road in Tai Kok Tsui.

The Hung Hom hotel and a construction site located at the junction of Hoi Fan Road and Sham Mong Road were only known to be associated with the OSNS after the government announced the six “prohibited places” on Tuesday.

The Metropark Hotel in Causeway Bay has been the OSNS’ temporary headquarters since the office’s establishment in July 2020.

Local media reported in 2021 that the City Garden Hotel in North Point and the Island Pacific Hotel in Sai Wan were used by the OSNS for staff accommodation.

The two Metropark hotels are properties of China Travel Service, a Chinese state-owned travel company.

The Island Pacific Hotel and the City Garden Hotel are owned by Hong Kong property developer Sino Group, controlled by Singaporean tycoon Robert Ng and his family. Ng and at least three of his children are members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s main political advisory body, Singaporean media reported.

With their designation as prohibited places, the sites are now protected by provisions against intruders and spies under Article 23.

Under Article 23, espionage activities involving prohibited places, including inspections in person or via electronic devices, are punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

Meanwhile, entering prohibited places without lawful authority, disobeying orders made by police or guards of the prohibited places, and obstructing their duties carry a maximum penalty of two years behind bars.

Some journalists told HKFP on Wednesday that police stopped them from taking photos and videos of two prohibited sites – at the junction of Hoi Fan Road and Sham Mong Road and the Metropark Hotel in Causeway Bay. Filming outside the Metropark Hotel in Hung Hom, however, did not encounter any problems, they said.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang told the legislature on Thursday that taking photos of the prohibited sites would be illegal only if there was “a criminal intent.”

In a press release on Friday, a government spokesperson said: “There is no problem for members of the public to purely ‘check in’ and take photos near a prohibited place while passing by, without any intention of endangering national security.”

However, police officers and security guards at the prohibited places are entitled to ask any person to leave the area if they believe there is a risk to national security, the spokesperson added.

Duties of Hong Kong gov’t

The new subsidiary laws enacted on Tuesday also stipulate the duties of the Hong Kong government in assisting the OSNS in performing its functions.

The OSNS is an apparatus of the central government in Beijing, not of the Hong Kong government, according to the Beijing-imposed national security law.

The office’s duties include “overseeing, guiding, coordinating with, and providing support” to the Hong Kong government in national security matters.

Under the new laws, any government department or agency in Hong Kong, as well as any public servant, must provide “all necessary and reasonable assistance” to the OSNS upon its request.

This includes giving priority to OSNS staff and vehicles when entering and departing Hong Kong.

Staff and vehicles of the OSNS are allowed to enter any place under the authority of the Hong Kong government, including those that require a permit to enter.

They are also allowed to use any premises under the Hong Kong government.

Any document purporting to be created or issued by the OSNS must be admitted as evidence in any proceedings without the OSNS having to produce further proof.

In an explanatory document about the subsidiary laws submitted to the Legislative Council on Monday, the Hong Kong government said the OSNS would only exercise jurisdiction over “a very small number of cases that are of a serious and egregious nature and involve a significant impact.”

“Although the possibility of the OSNS exercising jurisdiction… is quite low, the [Hong Kong] Government must plan ahead and establish a mechanism at the local law level to enable the OSNS to effectively perform its mandate,” the document said.