HK justice chief warns against law criticism

Paul Lam said a person might commit an offense if they repost online critical statements about the law issued by foreign nations and people overseas

Hong Kong’s justice minister on Sunday warned that posting and sharing criticism of the territory’s newly enacted national security law could be in breach of the legislation, which lays down harsh penalties for sedition.

The Article 23 legislation came into force on Saturday and includes penalties of up to life imprisonment for five categories of crime — treason, insurrection, espionage, sabotage and external interference.

It also expanded the British colonial-era offense of “sedition” to include inciting hatred against the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

Hong Kong Secretary for Justice

Paul Lam (林定國) in a televised interview said that a person might commit an offense if they repost online critical statements issued by foreign nations and people overseas, depending on their “intention and purpose.”

“An extreme scenario could be that the person posted [the statements] online because they strongly agreed with it, and they added some comments, made additional remarks, purely for the purpose of inciting other residents’ hatred against the [Hong Kong] and central governments,” Lam said. “In that case of course there is a risk and a chance [of breaching the law].”

Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang (鄧炳強) said in the same interview that additional evidence such as “what you keep at home and what other acts you have done” would have to be collected to facilitate prosecution.

“As I often said, if you breached the law, I will definitely find evidence against you,” Tang said.

The legislation expands on a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 after huge, sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019 were quashed.

Nearly 300 people have been arrested under the Beijing law, with dozens prosecuted for “sedition,” mainly for online posts critical of the authorities.