Hong Kong – Director Xia Baolong to attend opening ceremony of 2024 National Security Education Day on April 15 organised by Committee for Safeguarding National Security of HKSAR via video link

The following is issued on behalf of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region:

     ​April 15, 2024 (Monday) is the National Security Education Day. The Committee on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the National Security Committee) will hold an opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre that morning.

     The Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Mr Xia Baolong, together with all the leading officials of his office in Beijing, will attend the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day via video link. Director Xia will officiate at the ceremony and deliver a keynote speech.

     The Chairman of the National Security Committee and Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Mr John Lee, expressed a warm welcome to Director Xia for attending the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day online with all the leading officials of his office.

     Mr Lee said, “The National Security Education Day of this year is particularly meaningful for Hong Kong. This year marks the 10th anniversary of a holistic approach to national security put forward by President Xi Jinping. It is also the first National Security Education Day after the HKSAR has accomplished its mission under Article 23 of the Basic Law, and the first National Security Education Day after the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance took effect.”

     “The prevailing geopolitics has become increasingly complex, and national security risks and threats remain imminent. The means taken to endanger national security can come in many different forms and persist, and the threat can emerge all of a sudden. The public should remain vigilant. The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance requires the HKSAR to promote national security education and to raise the awareness of abiding by the law through public communication, guidance, supervision and regulation. The activities of the National Security Education Day organised by the National Security Committee help raise the awareness and the sense of responsibility for safeguarding national security among Hong Kong citizens, reminding them of staying alert to national security risks,” said Mr Lee.