Crime of collusion 'doesn't refer to normal foreign exchanges'

By ZHANG YI | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-07-01 15:36

Common and normal foreign connections and exchanges shall not constitute a crime under the new national security law for Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, told a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

The actual situation in Hong Kong and the provisions of Hong Kong laws already in force were taken into full consideration during the formulation of the national security law, Zhang said.

He made the remarks while explaining the crime of collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security, which is stipulated in Article 29 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which was passed by China's top legislative body on Tuesday.

"It doesn't refer to normal foreign exchanges, which will not constitute a crime at all," he said.

The article clearly stipulates the situations under which "collusion" with foreign forces constitutes a crime, including a person who steals, spies, obtains with payment, or unlawfully provides State secrets or intelligence concerning national security to a foreign country or organization.

A person who requests a foreign country or organization to commit acts that include provoking hatred among Hong Kong residents toward the Central People's Government, or receives instructions, control, and funding from a foreign country or organization to do so, shall also be guilty of the crime, the law said.

Explaining the meaning of "inciting hatred" in the article, Zhang said the concept is taken from Hong Kong's existing Crimes Ordinance, which stipulates that it is a crime to incite hatred between residents and against the government.

"It shows that the formulation of the law takes into full account the actual situation of Hong Kong and the provisions of Hong Kong law in force, and absorbs as much as possible the concepts and habits of the laws in Hong Kong," he said.