Education Day a chance to show unity
Senior Beijing official to deliver keynote address at high-profile seminar
Xia Baolong, the director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, will deliver a virtual keynote speech in a highprofile seminar today as part of the National Security Education Day’s packed programme, with analysts underscoring the occasion’s importance as a showcase for unity after the enactment of the domestic security law.
Xia, along with all the top officials from his bureau, will address the ceremony via video link, according to a government statement issued on behalf of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is also expected to speak at the ceremony at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, as well as Zheng Yanxiong, the director of the central government’s liaison office in the city.
Lee said the awareness day was particularly meaningful for the city this year, as it marked the 10th anniversary of the holistic approach to national security put forward by President Xi Jinping, and it was also the first to be held after the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance took effect last month.
“The prevailing geopolitics have become increasingly complex, and national security risks and threats remain imminent. The means taken to endanger national security can come in many different forms and persist, and the threat can emerge all of a sudden,” Lee said.
“The public should remain vigilant. The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance requires [the city] to promote national security education and to raise the awareness of abiding by the law through public communication, guidance, supervision and regulation.”
He said the activities organised by the National Security Committee would help raise awareness and the sense of responsibility to protect the country’s safety, which would remind residents to stay alert.
Xia attended the ceremony in person last year, telling the audience that Hongkongers could choose other ways to express their views instead of staging protests, and that voicing opinions was not contradictory to the protection of national security.
He also advised residents to focus more on economic development, while staying vigilant as anti-China forces were still looking to return and the 2019 anti-government protests had left “an indelible scar”.
Professor Lau Siu-kai, a consultant at semi-official Beijing think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, agreed that this year’s awareness day was especially significant.
“With the passage of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, this year marks the first time Hong Kong has a complete set of laws and mechanisms in protecting national security after the city’s return to the motherland,” Lau said.
Legislators unanimously passed the law last month, fast tracking the constitutionally required legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law that had been shelved for more than two decades because of initial public opposition. The legislation complements the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 after anti-government protests rocked the city in 2019.
Western countries have accused authorities of harming the rights and freedoms of Hongkongers by enacting the latest law.
Noting the attacks, Lau said: “The occasion will showcase Hong Kong people’s support for the ordinance and unity behind safeguarding national security.
“It also provides a good opportunity for promoting national security education.”
He stressed the need to remind residents to guard against threats to national security, despite the less turbulent situation in recent years.
“The country is still facing serious national security threats stemming from the US-led West’s continued determination to contain and harm China,” he said.
“Hong Kong is still a useful pawn to the West in this respect, particularly in the financial, cyber and ideological spheres.”
Hong Kong launched its first National Security Education Day on April 15, 2021. This year, the government has planned more than 30 community activities across the city’s 18 districts.
This morning, a flag-raising ceremony will be held at the Hong Kong Police College in Wong Chuk Hang, attended by the city’s No 2 official, Eric Chan Kwok-ki.