When asked by Legislative Councilors about the progress of the legislation today, Lee said conducting comprehensive legal research is more important than passing the legislation in order to cover blind spots, and to make sure the foolproof legislation is recognized by the country.

However, lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu questioned the Hong Kong leader for failing to introduce a timeline for the legislation.

Ho said the chief executive has outlined in his policy address hundreds of KPIs to monitor the implementation of policies during his term, but a timeline for the legislation was no where to be seen.

In response, Lee stressed he understood that the legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law is Hong Kong's constitutional responsibility and must be carried out as soon as possible, but he hopes that the legislation will not be subject to any amendments after it has been passed.

He reiterated that preparations were being made to make sure the legislation will be up to date with the threats to national security, different to the situation as in 2003.

“Now they use colour revolutions, they use spies, they use infiltrations. So we must come up with the best means in order to ward off all these threats. Is it really more important to make haste than to do it well?” Lee said.

“I want the piece of legislation to be able to deal with the most extreme circumstances,” Lee added.