HK business community backs national security law

Hong Kong’s business community voiced support for national security legislation for the city, while expressing confidence in the Special Administrative Region’s future prospects as a world-class financial centre.

In a blog post, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the city’s financial sectors, including people involved in banking and wealth management, all agreed with the need for national security legislation, seeing it as an effective way to restore law and order, create a stable environment conducive to business and improve livelihoods.

When the national security law takes effect, it will open up new opportunities for development and strengthen the “one country, two systems” principle. Hong Kong could then play a more positive role in the development and further opening up of the nation, he added.

He made the remarks as a threeday meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee convened on Sunday, to discuss and possibly vote on a law to safeguard national security in Hong Kong.

Phillips Stephen, Hong Kong’s director-general of Investment Promotion, said most foreign businesses staunchly backed and welcomed the legislation.

Businesses craved “stability and certainty” to ensure that their operations would not be disrupted by social unrest, Stephen explained.

Wong Ting-chung, chairman of the Hong Kong Industrial and Commercial Association, said the national security law would not only protect Hong Kong’s economic activities, but would also consolidate its vital role in national financial security and shield the mainland from economic threats by other countries with political agendas.