NPCSC To Begin Second Meeting On June 28

The standing committee of the National People's Congress will hold a second meeting next Sunday in Beijing. The body that drafts the national security law for Hong Kong finished its first three-day meeting on Saturday without releasing full details of the law, though an outline of the legislation was later released in a report by the official news agency Xinhua.

In a separate report on Sunday, Xinhua said the next standing committee meeting would also last for three days and end on June 30. It said the schedule had been approved on Saturday during a meeting led by the standing committee chairman, Li Zhanshu. But there was no mention in the report that the national security law would be discussed.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's sole delegate to the committee, Tam Yiu-chung, said the meeting agenda hadn't yet been finalised.

He said the chairman had the power to add any item to the agenda and to decide whether to put the bill to a vote during the upcoming meeting.

Tam said the chairman would take into consideration the maturity of the draft, the views of members and whether there was a need to pass the legislation as soon as possible.

Tam also said he hoped Hong Kong delegates to the National People's Congress could be present at the upcoming meeting. Due to the coronavirus, many delegates from across the country were unable to attend this year's meetings.

______________________________