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The Legislative Council started debating the bill on Friday amid tight security, and several members of the largely pro-Beijing body said they expected it to be passed into law before mid-April.“The geopolitics have become increasingly complex, and national security risks remain imminent,” a government statement said.
“We have serious concerns that if authorities rush forward with enacting proposed Article 23 legislation without adequate public consultation or incorporating checks and balances, the law will be used to continue suppressing dissent and erode the human rights and fundamental freedoms for people in Hong Kong,” the official said.
Hong Kong and Chinese officials have said the draft is similar to laws in some Western nations and that it was necessary to plug “loopholes” in the national security regime. The Hong Kong bill proposes extending police detention for those arrested, without charge, for up to 14 days with a magistrate’s approval and potentially limited access to lawyers, compared to 48 hours currently.