National anthem bill to be submitted to HKSAR LegCo

The National Anthem Law will be implemented by local legislation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the relevant National Anthem Bill will be submitted to the HKSAR Legislative Council (LegCo) for first reading on January 23.

A flag-raising ceremony is held at Golden Bauhinia Square to celebrate the 21st anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, in Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2018. [File photo: Xinhua]

Patrick Nip, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs of the HKSAR government, made the announcement here on Wednesday. "This approach fully demonstrates the spirit of the 'one country, two systems' principle," he said.

The legislative principle of the bill is to maintain the purpose and intent of the National Anthem Law, and to preserve the dignity of the national anthem, whilst taking into account Hong Kong's common law system and actual circumstances.

Nip noted the crux of the bill is to state that the national anthem is the symbol and sign of the country and to lead people to respect it, and to introduce penalties for those who publicly and intentionally insult it.

China's top legislature on Nov. 4, 2017 adopted decisions to apply the National Anthem Law in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.