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“subverting” (顛覆) and “State power” (國家政權) in the NSL or anywhere, the offence lacked certainty.
48. In the absence of any specific definition in the NSL, the meaning of the two terms should therefore be constructed purposively. We turned first to the ordinary meaning of the term “State power” (國家政權). The Chinese dictionary 《辭海》defined “政權” as follows:
「政權，亦稱國家政權。通常指國家權力，有時也指體現這種權力的機關。」
49. Secondly, we turned to the wider legal context. In HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying, the Court of Final Appeal held that it was evident that the legislative intention was, subject to NSL 62, for the NSL to operate in tandem with the laws of the HKSAR, seeking “convergence, compatibility and complementarity” with local laws. In this regard, we noted that s 3 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance, Cap 1 provided a specific definition of “State” and “Power” as follows:
“‘State’ (國家) includes only:-
(a) the President of the People’s Republic of China;
(b) the Central People’s Government;
(c) the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”「 ‘國家’ (state) 只包括:-
(a) 中華人民共和國主席;
(b) 中央人民政府;
(c) 香港特別行政區政府…」“‘Power’ (權、權力) includes any privilege, authority and discretion.”
「‘權、權力’ (power) 包括任何特權、權限和酌情決定權。」
