Safeguarding National Security Ordinance/Part 5

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Part 5
Sabotage Endangering National Security etc.

49. Sabotage endangering national security

(1) A person commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 20 years if the person—

(a) with intent to endanger national security; or

(b) being reckless as to whether national security would be endangered,

damages or weakens a public infrastructure.

(2) A person commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to life imprisonment if the person—

(a) with intent to endanger national security; or

(b) being reckless as to whether national security would be endangered,

colludes with an external force to damage or weaken a public infrastructure.

(3) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), an act is weakening a public infrastructure if the act causes any of the following effects (whenever caused) on the infrastructure (including any thing or software that constitutes the infrastructure)—

(a) making the infrastructure vulnerable to abuse or damage;

(b) making the infrastructure vulnerable to be accessed or altered by persons who are not entitled to access or alter the infrastructure;

(c) causing the infrastructure not to be able to function as it should in whole or in part;

(d) causing the infrastructure not to operate in a way as set by its owner or the owner’s representative (even if the act would not reduce the reliability of the operation of the infrastructure, of the thing or software constituting the infrastructure or of the information stored in the infrastructure).

(4) In this section—

public infrastructure (公共基礎設施) means—

(a) the following item that belongs to the Central Authorities or the Government or is occupied by or on behalf of the Central Authorities or the Government (whether it is situated in the HKSAR or not)—

(i) infrastructure;

(ii) facility or equipment;

(iii) network or computer or electronic system;

(iv) office premises; or

(v) military or national defence facility or equipment;

(b) public means of transport, public transport infrastructure or public transport facility that is situated in the HKSAR (including an airport and relevant facility); or

(c) the following item that is situated in the HKSAR—

(i) the following item providing or maintaining public services (such as finance, logistics, water, electricity, energy, fuel, drainage, communication, the Internet)—

(A) infrastructure; or

(B) facility; or

(ii) computer or electronic system providing or managing the services mentioned in subparagraph (i).

50. Doing acts endangering national security in relation to computers or electronic systems

(1) A person commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 20 years if—

(a) the person, with intent to endanger national security and without lawful authority, does an act in relation to a computer or electronic system;

(b) the person knows that the person has no lawful authority to do the act at the time of doing the act; and

(c) the act endangers (or is likely to endanger) national security.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), a person who does an act in relation to a computer or electronic system (the person) does the act without lawful authority if—

(a) the person is not a person who is responsible for the computer or electronic system and is entitled to decide whether the act could be done (responsible person); and

(b) the person does the act without the consent of a responsible person.

(3) In this section—

computer or electronic system (電腦或電子系統) includes any thing or software that constitutes the computer or electronic system.

51. Extra-territorial effect of this Part

If a person does any act outside the HKSAR, and the act would have constituted an offence under section 49(1) or (2) or 50(1) had it been done in the HKSAR, the person commits the offence.