China's Hong Kong commences local legislation to implement National Anthem Law

HONG KONG - The government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) announced on Friday that it has already commenced work on the local legislation to implement the National Anthem Law of the People's Republic of China and are preparing to draft the National Anthem Bill.

HKSAR government's Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau on Friday submitted the documents of Local Legislation of the National Anthem Law to HKSAR's Legislative Council (LegCo), which introduced the principle and purpose of the local legislative work.

The documents clarified that the legislative principle is to maintain the purpose and intent of the National Anthem Law to fully reflect its spirit and to preserve the dignity of the national anthem, so that Hong Kong residents would respect the national anthem, whilst taking into account Hong Kong's common law system and the actual circumstances.

The government also published the outline of the proposed content of the National Anthem Bill to summarize its proposed drafting direction.

According to the Bill, the Chief Executive shall prescribe the occasions where the national anthem must be performed and sung. Every person who takes part in, or is present at, the occasion where the national anthem is performed or sung, must stand and deport themselves respectfully, and must not display any behaviour that is disrespectful to the national anthem.

The National Anthem Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted at the 29th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress (NPCSC) on Sept 1, 2017, and has come into force nationwide since Oct 1, 2017. On Nov 4, 2017, the NPCSC adopted the decision to add the National Anthem Law to Annex III of the Basic Law of Hong Kong.