Beijing has reportedly passed a comprehensive national security law for Hong Kong that critics fear will crush political freedoms and pave the way for China to cede control over semi-autonomous territory.
Less than 40 days after Chinese lawmakers first proposed the imposition of an anti-sedition law in Hong Kong, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress approved the measure on Tuesday, criminalizing secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Various Hong Kong media organizations, citing unidentified sources, reported that the law was unanimously approved by the committee.
The internationally condemned law deals a devastating blow to Hong Kong’s autonomy as promised under “one country two systems”, the terms of the surrender of the former British colony to Chinese control in 1997.
In the ensuing decades, Hong Kong’s free press, independent courts and legislature, as well as its traditions of protests and marches have made the city a haven for civil liberties not enjoyed on the Chinese mainland border, especially like the Xi Jinping government. it has cracked down on civil society.
Those differences were highlighted last year when the protests, over another controversial bill that residents saw as a further Chinese invasion of their city, turned into a broader democratic movement. The authorities have made clear that the legislation aims to stop these protests, which have created new diplomatic tensions and have added to an increasingly hostile international environment for Beijing.
Beijing has accused the United States and other foreign “black hands” of inciting the protests as a way to destabilize China. The United States said on Monday it would stop exporting sensitive military items to Hong Kong as it moved to revoke the city’s special trade status as separate from China in retaliation for the impending national security law. The United States has also said it would limit visas for current and former Chinese officials who consider themselves “responsible or complicit in undermining Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy.”
Legal scholars and critical residents say the law effectively destroys one country, two systems, a firewall between Hong Kong and China, aimed at preserving the city’s “high degree of autonomy” for 50 years after surrender. Beijing has defended the measure by calling other hypocritical countries by criticizing China for acting to defend its own national security.
Although widely condemned in mainland China, where state media describe the protesters as violent “protesters” and “terrorists,” a minority of Chinese residents and activists have been punished for supporting the protests in Hong Kong.
According to previously published details, the law will see Beijing establish a national security agency in Hong Kong to “guide” the implementation of the law in the territory. It will also have jurisdiction over cases in “certain circumstances”. If discrepancies arise, security legislation will override Hong Kong law. The law promises to protect the civic rights of Hong Kong residents.
Jerome Cohen, a Chinese law expert at New York University, has called that language “attractive.” “The very provisions of the national security bill appear to violate the protections offered by Hong Kong law and the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights),” he said, referring to the key international human rights treaty Hong refers to. Kong. a signatory
Legal academics also disagree with how the law was passed, through a legal maneuver preventing the Hong Kong legislature itself and the possibility of public dissent stopping the bill. An earlier attempt to pass a national security law by pro-Beijing lawmakers and the government caused massive protests and was shelved. A full draft of the law, to be enacted immediately, was not released before its approval Tuesday.
Officials have promised that the law will only target a “limited set of behaviors,” but rights advocates and observers believe it will be widely used to suppress dissent.
“An axiom of criminal law in systems that respect rights is that crimes must be written accurately. When not, they are open to the discretion and abuse of those who will file the charges. They have been used in precisely this way in China, “said Martin S Flaherty, a visiting professor of law at Princeton University who has specialized in human rights in China.
He said special detention centers for suspects in national security cases could “become forums for torture, abusive interrogation and forced confessions.”
Prominent activists believe they are likely to be arrested a few days after the law’s enactment. Last year, police arrested more than 9,000 protesters, including legislators and pro-democracy activists who frequently lobbied to draw international attention to the Hong Kong cause.
Still, experts believe the move is likely to solidify resistance in Hong Kong in the long term, raising the possibility of further instability.
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