Those are the words of the territory's chief executive, Carrie Lam, as she delivered her delayed annual statement.

She said the pro democracy protests and demonstrations of recent times have presented the most severe political challenge since Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 on she promised to restore order In the past year or so, Hong Kong has experienced the most severe political challenges since its return to the motherland.

One of our urgent priorities is to restore Hong Kong SL's constitutional order and political system from chaos.

It is the constitutional responsibility off the Hong Kong S.

A.

R to safeguard our country's sovereignty, security and development interests.

Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong shall enact laws on its own to prohibit specified acts and activities which endanger national security.

Notwithstanding Hong Kong's reunification with mother in 23 years ago and after five terms of government, this legislative exercise is still not yet completed.

Hong Kong has become an obvious gaping hole in national security and presented significant risks to to the country Well, our correspondent Steve McDonald is following this story from Beijing, he says.

While Kari lambs comments sound serious, they are thin on detail.

She didn't exactly spell out where these risks were or or what this gaping hole, uh, in real terms meant.

I mean, she referred Mawr broadly to the opposition figures who sought the help off outside forces in challenging her government and also challenging Beijing.

Now, I guess by that she's implying but didn't say that certain opposition figures had welcomed sanctions to be placed on her and other senior members of her administration, welcoming the pressure, I suppose, from the likes of the British government after the national security law was introduced.

Now this is an annual speech that the Hong Kong leader gives, and this year it was delayed in order to allow her to travel to this city, Beijing, and speak to the Communist Party's senior leadership.

Now, crucially, that delay meant that by the time she's gone back to Hong Kong, she's giving that speech inside the Legislative Council now without any opposition.

So last year that was heckling, and what have you from opposition politicians?

Now there's nobody there.

This followed the mass resignation of the entire pro democracy block after Beijing gave Carrie Lam the power to sack any elected politician seem to be insufficiently law to the motherland.

So much easier, I suppose, climate in which she could deliver that speech today, but the main point she'd given.

She defended the new draconian state security law, which has restricted dissent in that city as necessary to bring the place under control to, in her words, restore constitutional stability.

Now you know this law has been heavily criticized.

She would say, though, that it would be it was necessary because of the chaos that those mass protests had caused in Hong Kong last year, Steve McDonald there.