Stephen Wong, deputy solicitor general of the Department of Justice, made the remarks Friday when answering a question during a Legislative Council meeting to discuss the second report on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights due to be submitted to the United Nations on October 31 this year.

He said that Article 39 of the Basic Law stipulates that the provisions of the ICCPR are applied to Hong Kong and continues to remain in force after Hong Kong's return to the motherland on July1, 1997.

"Article 39 stipulates that the ICCPR is to be enforced, but Article 23 also stipulates that the Hong Kong SAR has a responsibility to legislate to protect national security," Wong said.

"Besides, the HKSAR government believes that when we propose the legislation, we have made sure that it will not interfere freedoms and human rights. The proposed legislation has three points that say in detail that its use, interpretation and enforcement need to be in line with Article 39 of the Basic Law."

Stephen Fisher, deputy secretary for home affairs, explained that whenever a bill is tabled at the council by the HKSAR government, the bill must have sought legal counsel from the Department of Justice, which certifies that the law is in line with the Bill of Rights and the Basic Law.

Article 23 stipulates that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets.

It also prohibits foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the HKSAR and to prohibit political organizations or bodies here from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2003)