A Legco bills committee vetting the city's homegrown national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law will work intensively and hold long and frequent meetings to speed up its legislative process, its chairman said on Friday.

Martin Liao said this was to ensure that the law could be enacted as soon as possible, as the committee held its first meeting hours after the government submitted the bill to the legislature.

Committee members expressed full support for the arrangements.

New People’s Party chairwoman Regina Ip, who was secretary for security when the government attempted to introduce Article 23 legislation back in 2003, said she had been waiting more than 20 years for this moment.

“Today I feel this is really an historic moment. I myself have been waiting for more than 20 years. I am very happy we’ve come to this stage with all kinds of support. It is absolutely not easy. I sincerely hope we can finish the legislative process as soon as possible,” she said.

Jeffrey Lam of the Business and Professionals Alliance said he didn't mind working seven days a week.

"I think we will have a lot of meetings in the coming days. If the chairman asks for meetings seven days a week and even overtime in the evenings, we will do our best to cooperate," he said.

Legislator Chan Siu-hung said he would work diligently to scrutinise the bill.

"We will do our best and work day and night to scrutinise each and every clause of the bill," he said.

Stanley Ng of the Federation of Trade Unions said that the committee should work quickly to prevent the US from trying to interfere with the legislation.

Given the risks facing Hong Kong, the legislation should be enacted as soon as possible, and "one more day is too much," he said.

The bills committee has scheduled eight hours of meetings on March 9 and 10 to expedite the process.
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Last updated: 2024-03-08 HKT 17:37