Xia Baolong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, speaks at a panel discussion in studying Chinese President Xi Jinping’s latest speech in Hong Kong. Photo: Courtesy of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Office of the State Council, made an explanation on a motion to request the interpretation of the relevant provisions of the National Security Law for Hong Kong at the ongoing standing committee session of China's top legislature on Tuesday.

The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), or China's top legislature, convened its 38th session on Tuesday in Beijing, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The meeting heard the explanation from Xia on the motion entrusted by the State Council, China's cabinet, to request the interpretation of the provisions of the National Security Law for Hong Kong, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

It came after Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive John Lee submitted a report to the central government in late November, suggesting that the NPC Standing Committee interpret the NSL for Hong Kong to clarify whether a foreign lawyer can handle national security cases after Hong Kong's top court rejected an appeal by the Department of Justice to overturn the permission to allow a UK barrister to represent Jimmy Lai, the infamous secessionist media tycoon who faces charges under the national security law for Hong Kong.

Lee believed that such an interdiction is necessary as Lai is suspected of colluding with foreign forces to commit crimes against national security and a foreign lawyer might divulge State secrets that are revealed during the trial.

Legal experts in both Hong Kong and mainland believe that as the motion to request for a legal interpretation was mentioned during the NPC Standing Committee session, it's highly likely that the NPC Standing Committee will soon interpret the provisions of the NSL for Hong Kong regarding the matter.

"It is likely that the NPC Standing Committee may take the opportunity to interpret the NSL for Hong Kong during the session," Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies who is also a senior policy advisor on Hong Kong affairs, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Officials and legal experts in Hong Kong have been calling for the interpretation of the NSL for Hong Kong as allowing overseas lawyers in national security cases is inappropriate and risks leakage of state secrets.

The national security trial of Lai has been adjourned until September 25, 2023, pending for China's top legislature to determine whether he can be defended by a foreign lawyer of his choice, according to Hong Kong media reports.

Hiring a foreign lawyer to defend a national security case has triggered huge controversy in Hong Kong's legal sector as a number of prominent lawmakers and legal experts voiced concerns about the matter, as allowing a foreign lawyer to engage in a case concerning collusion with foreign and external forces to endanger national security entails risks.

It will also provide convenience for foreign forces to interfere in the case, hurting the reputation of local lawyers and the city's rule of law, experts said.

The NSL for Hong Kong took effect on June 30, 2020. The power of interpretation of the NSL for Hong Kong shall be vested in the Standing Committee of the NPC, according to the Article 65 of the law.