HKSAR bar association head panned

Central government bodies on Friday denounced a Hong Kong legal group leader's call to seek amendments to the National Security Law, with the bodies saying that challenging the authority of the nation's top legislature cannot be tolerated.

After his election as the new chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association in January, Paul Harris said that some provisions of the law－drafted by the National People's Congress Standing Committee and promulgated in Hong Kong on June 30－contradict the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and he would lobby the government to make amendments.

Harris also claimed that the earlier arrest of 55 individuals by the Hong Kong police on charges of subversion under the National Security Law is "deliberate intimidation of the democratic movement".

A spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, the nation's top government body in charge of Hong Kong affairs, said in a statement issued on Friday, "Harris clamored for revising the National Security Law for Hong Kong and questioned the authority of the NPC Standing Committee, pointing his finger at the central government. It was not law but politics that he talked about, which befitted his political character."

Harris is hostile to the Communist Party of China and has been spreading discredited and offensive remarks against China, added the spokesperson.

He declared that "Hong Kong independence" could be openly discussed, he used his British identity to collude with foreign powers to interfere in Hong Kong affairs, and he took an unusually keen interest in protests and fueled them in various ways, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson added that it's obvious his political intention is to block the stability and order advocated by the National Security Law for Hong Kong, challenge the constitutional order of the SAR and turn the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong into full autonomy to confront the central government.

The spokesperson reiterated that the bottom line of the "one country, two systems" principle should not be challenged and said,"No one or any organization should have any illusion that they can play with fire on the principle without receiving punishment."

Also on Friday, a spokesperson for the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR also denounced Harris for his comments, adding that they aroused anger among Hong Kong society, including legal professionals.

The spokesperson stressed in a statement that the enactment of the National Security Law was entirely justified and necessary, and the authority of the NPC Standing Committee cannot be challenged.

These principles are inherent in the principle of "one country, two systems" and have become the consensus of the Hong Kong community, the spokesperson added.

"We will never allow any politicians or groups to wreak havoc on Hong Kong under the guise of 'professionalism'," the statement said."The constitutional order established by the nation's Constitution and the Hong Kong SAR Basic Law must be firmly upheld."