Hong Kong authorities are considering invoking the homegrown security law for the first time to ban two overseas political groups they deem subversive from operating in the city.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang may declare the Hong Kong Parliament and the Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union as “prohibited organisations” in the city under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, the government said in a statement on Monday.
If the two organisations become officially banned, anyone who acts as an office-bearer or a member of the prohibited groups would commit an offence. It would also be illegal for anyone to join their activities, to incite others to become members, or to give aid. Those convicted may face up to 14 years in jail and a maximum fine of HK$1 million.
“The two organizations in question aim to subvert state power. Their objectives include promoting ‘self-determination,’ making the ‘Hong Kong Constitution,’ and overthrowing or undermining the basic system of the People’s Republic of China…” the statement read.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Tang said written notices had been sent to the two organisations, giving them one week to make their case. He said the authorities had prosecuted members of the political groups in question, with one of the defendants sentenced to one year behind bars.
Tang was referring to 19-year-old Lan Fei, who was jailed earlier this month after pleading guilty to the sedition offence.
She appeared in two videos posted in April and May, promoting the election for the Hong Kong Parliament, a Canada-based group that sought to form a shadow legislature outside the city, aiming to topple the city’s government.
In July, Hong Kong authorities announced that 19 overseas activists were wanted for organising or participating in the Hong Kong Parliament, and placed HK$200,000 bounties on 15 of them for information leading to their arrests. The remaining four already had a HK$1 million bounty each on their heads for other alleged national security crimes.
Last month, a 16-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit secession for his involvement in the Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union.
The boy, charged alongside two other men involved with the Taiwan-based political group, is currently detained pending his sentencing.
In 2018, the Hong Kong government issued a ban on the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party – the first time the authorities had prohibited a group using the Societies Ordinance since the 1997 Handover.
John Lee, then security chief, ordered the prohibition of the party’s operation.
Lee, now the city’s chief executive, said at the time that the party was banned in the interests of national security, public safety, public order, protection of freedom and the rights of others.
Separate from the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city’s opposition-free legislature.
The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and “regressive.” Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to “close loopholes” after the 2019 protests and unrest.
