Hong Kong’s national security better protected with changes, experts say

Changes to Hong Kong’s implementation rules for the National Security Law will improve operational efficiency amid heightened geopolitical risks, experts have said.A legal expert and a former security minister said the amendments aimed to clearly lay out investigation procedures for searches under existing National Security Law powers, while an academic argued the move was needed to address online threats that could involve external forces.“There are new procedures, but there are no new powers or principles,” Senior Counsel Ronny Tong Ka-wah, who sits on the key decision-making Executive Council, said.The government gazetted a series of amendments to the implementation rules of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law on Monday. A spokesman said the changes would strengthen enforcement power, improve investigation of cases and mitigate national security risks more promptly.The changes include empowering Police to require a person under investigation to provide passwords or decryption methods for electronic equipment, with non-compliance punishable by a maximum of one year’s imprisonment and a HK$100,000 (US$12,760) fine.Customs officers were also empowered to seize articles deemed seditious, and authorities said they would set up applicable procedures and a strict timetable for processing claims of legal professional privilege involving materials seized by Police for investigation.