Hong Kong Approves New National-Security Law That Worries Foreign Executives


这一新法的内容包括对危及国家安全的境外干预行为处以重罚，并将管有或披露国家秘密相关行为列为罪行。有外企高管称，这些措施可能会降低香港对国际商界的吸引力。


香港立法会通过了新法律，概述了叛国、间谍活动等罪行。

香港议员通过一项条例，内容包括对危及国家安全的境外干预行为处以重罚，并将管有或披露国家秘密相关行为列为罪行。有外企高管称，这些措施可能会降低香港对国际商界的吸引力。 6park.com
Hong Kong lawmakers passed a bill that includes heavy punishments for foreign interference endangering national security and criminalizes the possession or disclosure of state secrets, measures that some foreign executives say could make the city less attractive for international business. 6park.com
   
香港立法会通过的这一新法概述了叛国、间谍活动等罪行，并拓展了国家安全的含义，将经济事务纳入进来。中国政府近年来对香港立法会进行了全面改革以压制反对声音。被称为“第23条”的这一新法还扩大了被视为国家秘密的资料范围，目前涵盖关乎社会发展的秘密、关乎科技发展的秘密等。 6park.com
The city’s legislature, overhauled by Beijing in recent years to shut out opposition, passed the new law which outlines offenses such as espionage and treason, and widens the meaning of national security to include economic matters. The law, known as Article 23, also expands the range of material considered state secrets, such as those concerning social and technological developments. 6park.com
   
上述定义让香港与中国内地更为同步。中国内地一波对商业尽职调查公司的整顿已令部分外企感到不安。这一新法与香港国安法兼容互补。在香港发生大规模反政府抗议活动之后，中国政府于2020年在香港实施了港区国安法。 6park.com
The definitions bring Hong Kong more in line with mainland China, where a crackdown on business due-diligence firms has unnerved some foreign companies. It supplements a national-security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 in the wake of mass antigovernment protests. 6park.com
    
新法已招致西方国家政府的强烈批评，西方国家政府称该法可能会进一步破坏香港的自由。一群美国议员上周致信美国国务卿布林肯(Antony Blinken)，称该法使美国公民和企业面临的风险增大。 6park.com
The new law has drawn strong criticism from Western governments who say it risks further undermining freedoms in the city, and a group of U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week saying it raised the risks for American citizens and businesses.  6park.com
    
在实际操作层面，外国商业团体和公司律师的态度更为克制，但一些人表示，他们担心法案的某些部分措辞过于含糊，感觉企业的风险和合规成本会增加。 6park.com
On the ground, foreign business groups and corporate lawyers are more measured, but some say they are concerned that some parts of the bill are so vaguely worded they raise the perception of risk-and-compliance costs for businesses. 6park.com
   
香港德国商会主席赫佑汉(Johannes Hack)说：“对西方利益相关者来说，香港的独特价值之一是这个城市的开放性，我们认为需要很好地平衡开放性和对安全的渴望。” 6park.com
“Part of the unique value Hong Kong has for Western stakeholders is the openness of the city and we feel the balance between openness and the desire for security needs to be well calibrated,” said Johannes Hack, head of the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. 6park.com
   
香港行政长官李家超(John Lee)本月早些时候已经表示，他已要求立法机构全速审议并通过该法案，以便香港能够集中精力发展经济。港府发言人表示，该法案针对的是极少数危害国家安全的人，正常的商业经营者不会受到此项立法的影响。 6park.com
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee said earlier this month that he had asked the legislature to scrutinize and pass the bill at full speed, so that the city “can then focus its efforts on developing the economy.” A spokesman for Hong Kong’s government said that the bill “targets an extremely small minority of people who endanger national security” and that normal business operators won’t be affected by the legislation. 6park.com
   
近年来，由于社会动荡、严格的新冠防疫规定、中国经济萎靡不振以及以国家安全为由的打击行动，外国企业和高管对香港的信心有所动摇。一大批跨国公司撤离香港、调走地区高管或缩减业务，其中包括一些收集商业情报的公司。 6park.com
Confidence in Hong Kong among foreign businesses and executives has been shaken in recent years amid social unrest, strict pandemic rules, China’s sputtering economy and a national-security crackdown. A range of multinational companies have left, moved regional executives or downsized their operations in Hong Kong, including a number of firms that gather business intelligence. 6park.com
   
香港政府统计处的数据显示，2023年，有香港境外母公司的驻港地区总部数量继续减少，其中包括来自美国、英国和瑞士的公司。 6park.com
The number of regional headquarters of firms based outside Hong Kong continued to fall in 2023, including those from the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department.  6park.com
    
驻香港的几位外国商界领袖表示，虽然他们认为一项新的国家安全法并不构成他们重新考虑是否在香港发展的一个理由，但它会加剧人们对香港作为全球金融中心吸引力的已有担忧，是吸引全球人才的绊脚石。 6park.com
Several foreign business leaders in Hong Kong say that while they don’t see a second national-security law as a reason to rethink their presence in the city, it reinforces existing concerns about the city’s appeal as a global financial center and hinders attracting global talent. 6park.com
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该法律将于本周六生效。 6park.com
The law will take effect on Saturday. 6park.com
   
据知情人士透露，在公开咨询期间，香港政府安全和司法部门负责人等高级官员会见了各全球商会领袖，让其放心该法律不针对企业。 6park.com
During the public consultation, Hong Kong’s top officials, including its security and justice chiefs, met with the leaders of global business chambers to reassure them that the law wasn’t taking aim at businesses, according to people familiar with the meetings. 6park.com
    
据其中一次会议的与会者表示，官员们未直接回应有关港府是否分析过新立法对企业潜在影响的提问，称该法律不会增加企业的合规成本。 6park.com
Officials dismissed questions about whether the government had analyzed the new law’s potential impact on businesses, saying it wouldn’t increase their compliance costs, attendees at one of the meetings said.


2023年，有香港境外母公司的驻港地区总部数量继续减少。

据一些与会者透露，在上个月与一位负责香港事务的北京高级官员举行的另一次会议上，会议组织者挑选的代表分享了国际商界的观点，对港区国安法和香港的商业环境没有提出任何批评。他们说，这次会议似乎受到严格操控，并非所有外国商界领袖都有机会直言不讳地表达自身担忧。 6park.com
At another meeting with a top Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs last month, representatives chosen by organizers to share the views of the international business community voiced no criticism about the security law and Hong Kong’s business environment, some attendees said. The meeting appeared tightly managed and not all foreign business leaders had an opportunity to frankly share their concerns, they said. 6park.com
     
对于该法律，国际商界最为关切的部分，即对国家秘密和境外干预的宽泛定义，与最初的公众咨询文件几乎完全相同。 6park.com
Sections of the bill to which the international business community expressed the most concern—the broad definitions of state secrets and external interference—remained almost identical to the initial consultation paper. 6park.com
    
香港德国商会主席赫佑汉说，由于认为存在风险，企业今后可能会避免从事某些活动，并表示外国总部的高管们将更难理解香港到底与中国其他地方有何不同。 6park.com
Companies might refrain from certain activities in future due to perceived risks, said the German chamber’s Hack, adding that executives at foreign headquarters will find it harder to see how the city is different from the rest of China. 6park.com
    
另一家欧洲商会的负责人说，由于担心违反国家秘密相关法律，企业在进行商业尽职调查时必须三思而后行。一家咨询机构表示，将不会承接政府工作，以免可能触碰到国家秘密。 6park.com
The head of another European business chamber said companies will have to think twice when running business due diligence owing to concerns over violating state secrets laws. One consulting firm said it wouldn’t take on government work to avoid potentially coming into contact with state secrets. 6park.com
    
该条例草案还将来自外部势力的威胁作为目标，如果被发现勾结境外势力，相关违法行为将被处以更长时间的监禁。 6park.com
The draft law also targets threats from external forces and offenses will carry heavier jail sentences if they were found to be committed in connection with foreign forces. 6park.com
    
美国、欧盟和英国已经指责香港匆忙通过一项有可能进一步侵蚀香港自由的法案。在香港，异见声音已几乎消失殆尽，包括活动人士、前议员和媒体工作者在内的许多政治反对派都被关进了监狱。 6park.com
The U.S., European Union and the U.K. have accused Hong Kong of rushing through a bill that risks further eroding freedoms in a city where dissent has been all but wiped out and scores of political opponents—activists, former lawmakers and media workers—jailed. 6park.com
    
美国驻香港总领事馆一位发言人说，美国将仔细研究这项法律，了解其对在香港的美国公民、投资和公司营运的影响。 6park.com
The U.S. will look carefully at the law to understand implications for American citizens, investments and companies operating in Hong Kong, a spokesperson for the U.S. Consulate General said. 6park.com
    
香港政府坚决回击外国政府的批评，并谴责外国媒体发表的负面文章，称这些文章企图危言耸听或抹黑香港的安全法。香港政府发言人说，在为期四周的公众咨询过程中，政府共收到超过13,000份意见书（其中包括许多来自商界的意见书），98%以上表示支持及提供正面意见。 6park.com
Hong Kong’s government has hit back strongly at criticism from foreign governments and condemned unfavorable articles in the foreign press, saying they are attempts to scaremonger or smear the city’s security laws. More than 98% of over 13,000 submissions it received during a four-week consultation, including many from the business sector, have positive comments, the government spokesman said. 6park.com
   
港府发言人称，制定法律维护国家安全是每个主权国家的固有权利。他说，单独挑出香港，暗示企业只有在香港经商时才会有担忧，而在其他国家则不会，这过于荒谬。 6park.com
“Enacting laws on safeguarding national security is an inherent right of every sovereign state,” he said. “It is outrageous to single out Hong Kong and suggest that businesses would only experience concerns when doing business here but not in other countries.” 6park.com
   
立法会委员、前保安局局长叶刘淑仪(Regina Ip)表示，外国公司不必担心，因为国家机密不是任何普通个人或实体都能轻易获取的信息，除非是通过购买或通过黑客攻击或偷窃来获取。 6park.com
Regina Ip, a legislator and former security minister, said foreign firms didn’t need to worry as state secrets aren’t information that any ordinary individual or entity could easily have access to, unless bought or gained by hacking or stealing. 6park.com
   
20多年前，叶刘淑仪牵头了香港政府制定类似国家安全法的努力，但相关法案因遭到强烈反对而搁置，遭反对的原因是被认为威胁香港的公民自由。2003年夏天，估计有50万人上街抗议相关法案。 6park.com
Ip led government efforts to enact similar national-security laws more than 20 years ago, but that bill was shelved after intense opposition that it threatened the city’s civil liberties. An estimated half a million people took to the streets to protest in the summer of 2003. 6park.com
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这一次，公众舆论反应平淡，凸显了北京方面镇压异见声音影响。主要抗议活动是由香港仅存的一个反对派团体的三名成员在大量警察的包围下举行的。 6park.com
This time around, public opinion has been muted, highlighting the impact of Beijing’s crackdown on dissent. The main protest was held by three members of the city’s last surviving opposition group, surrounded by dozens of police officers.