Louis Siu Wai Xinhua News Agency Getty Images Hong Kong leader Kari Lam said national security law was “absolutely necessary” to ensure Hong Kong’s stability. In an interview with CNBC on Friday, Lam said: “Looking back, I think the enactment and implementation of a national security law, as well as the subsequent improvements in the electoral system, are absolutely essential to ensure its continued stability and prosperity. Hong Kong. “ “And if I may just add, stability is extremely important for Hong Kong to maintain and strengthen its status as an international financial center,” Hong Kong CEO Emily Tan and Martin Soong told CNBC. Lam also said that the exodus of expatriates and foreigners from Hong Kong in recent months was not due to the recently enacted National Security Act – considered by some to be Beijing’s tightening in the city – but as a result of strict pandemic controls and measures “They make people very impatient.” “Sometimes you need difficult situations [protests] to weaken people, that’s something we had to do. “The passage of the National Security Act and the subsequent improvements to increase stability,” Lam told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.” “Stability is important to maintain a strengthened Hong Kong as an economic hub. Now that stability has been ensured.” When people complain that there is no freedom, this is not the case in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is as free as ever … Curry Lam Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Following the reunification of Hong Kong with mainland China in 1997, laws were enacted guaranteeing the practice of the “one country, two systems” principle for 50 years – or until 2047. Lam insisted that Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy remained intact and had not expired before 2047, despite propaganda promoted by some Western media outlets. “Sometimes I find it very disturbing that many Western media outlets try to portray Hong Kong as another Chinese city and do not have the proper recognition or understanding of a country, of two systems,” he said. He said Beijing officials believed the “one country, two systems” principle was “the best institutional arrangement to ensure Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity”. Lam said he, along with Beijing, looks forward to “continuing what is enshrined in the Basic Law, including the protection of individual rights and freedoms, the practice of the Hong Kong capitalist system and all the high degree of autonomy granted to Hong Kong.” ». “When people complain that there is no freedom, this is not the situation in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is as free as ever, whether it is freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, media, etc. Despite the protests and riots, the implementation of the National Security Act and the previous bill was needed to find Hong Kong the right laws to protect national interests, Lam said. He said this was crucial as Hong Kong has not yet established its own institutions and legal systems to protect national interests, security and sovereignty more than two decades after its extradition to China. Rising pain was part of that emancipation, as seen in other demonstrations before 2019, including the Occupy Central movement in 2014, when protesters demanded an immediate, universal suffrage to elect the city leader, Lam said. “Freedoms are not absolute,” Lam said. “Freedoms must be somewhat limited, where there is a public interest. And no public interest could be superior to the national interest.” “Thus, every country must have rules and laws to ensure the national sovereignty, security and development interests of the nation. the laws.” This is a story that unfolds. Check again for updates.
