China News Service, Hong Kong, February 29th: The Security Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government stated on the 29th that the public consultation launched by the Bureau on January 30 this year on the legislation of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law ended on February 28.
According to preliminary figures, more than 13,000 comments were received.
Since the launch of the public consultation, the Hong Kong SAR government has organized nearly 30 consultation meetings to meet with people from various sectors to explain in detail the recommendations in the consultation document.
About 3,000 people participated in the consultation, including local and international business circles, legal circles, financial circles, education circles, the press and other professional circles, representatives of national groups, regional figures, political groups and related groups, as well as foreign consuls.
The Security Bureau stated that the vast majority of participants expressed support for the legislation.
Preliminary figures as of 11:59 pm on February 28 show that the SAR government received a total of 13,147 opinions during the public consultation period, mainly including emails, letters and faxes.
Among them, 12,969 expressed support and positive opinions (accounting for 98.64% of the total); another 85 opinions simply raised questions, or expressed opinions that did not reflect their position (accounting for 0.65% of the total).
The Security Bureau stated that the above results show that the legislative proposals are supported by the majority of the public.
The opinions received cover different areas of legislative proposals, and also include other suggestions related to safeguarding national security in addition to the specific opinions in the consultation document, providing valuable reference for the process of drafting the bill.
In addition, organizations and groups from different sectors and professions actively expressed their support for the SAR government's legislative work during the public consultation period by making public statements, publishing signed articles or joint letters.
The Security Bureau stated that it is very encouraged that all sectors of society are actively speaking out in support of the legislative work, which shows that there is a strong atmosphere in society to support the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law.
The SAR government will integrate the consultation results at full speed, take into account the opinions received, and strive to finalize the draft of the "Maintenance of National Security Ordinance" as soon as possible for submission to the Legislative Council for review.
During the legislative process, the SAR government will continue to actively provide explanations to people from all walks of life and proactively release more legislation-related information through different channels to refute unreasonable attacks and smears on the legislation of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, so as to set the record straight.
In the next stage, the SAR government will actively cooperate with the work of the Legislative Council to complete legislation as soon as possible to respond to continued national security risks and threats, ensure the safety of citizens, and enable Hong Kong to fully focus on economic development and maintain prosperity and stability.
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