Explainer | How will new subsidiary laws that bolster national security affect Hongkongers?

The proposed subsidiary legislation, which would supplement the domestic national security law enacted more than a year ago, comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions between China and the United States.

Authorities said the subsidiary laws concerning the powers of the central government’s Office for Safeguarding National Security would be enacted via “negative vetting”, implying they would come into force on the date of gazettal before the legislature gave them the green light.

1. What is the Office for Safeguarding National Security?

Established in 2020 upon the promulgation of the Beijing-imposed national security law, the Office for Safeguarding National Security is responsible for supervising and guiding the Hong Kong government’s enforcement of the legislation.

However, the Beijing office does not have jurisdiction over national security cases in the city unless at least one of three exceptional circumstances laid out in Article 55 of the national security law arise.

Article 55 of the law stipulates that the office can exercise jurisdiction if a case is determined to be complex due to the involvement of a foreign country or external elements, or is deemed a “serious situation” which renders the city government unable to enforce the law effectively or counter a “major and imminent threat to national security”.

The office can also take over a case upon approval by Beijing after a request made by the Hong Kong government or by the office itself.