The Hong Kong Police Honor Guard raises a Chinese national flag and a Hong Kong flag during a flag raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square on June 15, 2020 in Hong Kong, China.
Anthony Kwan | fake pictures
Hong Kong police announced Wednesday that they made their first arrest since China’s national security law went into effect.
The controversial National Security Law was approved Tuesday and went into effect hours later.
It is stipulated that a person acting with the aim of “undermining Hong Kong’s national unification” with mainland China faces up to life-long punishment, depending on the severity of the crime.
Under the new law, many of the Hong Kong protests that took place last year would be punishable by law.
Critics say the security law will undermine the autonomy promised to Hong Kong when it was handed over from the UK to China on July 1, 1997. Wednesday marks the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s surrender.
Hong Kong, governed under the “one country, two systems” framework, enjoys freedoms that other Chinese cities do not have, such as electoral rights and a largely separate legal and economic system.
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