“The options I have are clear: to remain silent from now on, or to continue participating in private diplomacy in order to warn the world of the threat of Chinese authoritarian expansion,” he said. “I made the decision when I agreed to testify before the United States Congress.”
The Hong Kong Autonomy Law would impose sanctions on companies and individuals that help China restrict Hong Kong’s autonomy. It will now go to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, for her signature before it is enacted.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong’s top official, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, rejected foreign critics of the law, saying it was a “crucial step to end the chaos and violence that has occurred in recent months” in the city.
“The national security law is the most important development to secure ties between China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since delivery,” he said, framing criticism of the law as “vicious attacks.”
Glory to Hong Kong
The hymn refers to the motto “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”. Plastered on graffiti, posters, t-shirts, and even political advertisements, it has been one of the most popular slogans of the protests that started last year. However, its future use could result in a charge of sedition under the new law, the government said Thursday.
“The slogan ‘Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our time’ today connotes ‘Hong Kong independence’, or separate the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) from the People’s Republic of China, altering the legal status of the HKSAR, or subverting state power, “said a spokesman, adding that the new law” prohibits secession, subversion of state power and other acts and activities that endanger national security. “
Police said all but one of those arrested have been rescued until July. They face charges of incitement or incitement of others for the commission of secession or subversion, which could carry a sentence of five years in prison.
Cooling effect
Much about how the new security law will be implemented remains unclear, and this has left many people nervously monitoring their own behavior and avoiding actions that could step over the new invisible red lines.
Many shops and restaurants that had vocally supported the protest movement could be seen removing posters and slogans from their walls, fearing possible prosecution. People have also been scouring their social media and removing WhatsApp chats, and journalists have begun to face much more concern from sources about speaking in the registry about the law.
Speaking at a protest on July 1, a woman who declined to give her name said, “It will be difficult not to censor yourself when something like this happens.”
“I feel like most people would be more cautious with what they say,” he added.
One thing he said would change would be how Hong Kongers uses the Internet, adding that he planned to use a VPN and secure apps more frequently. Samuel Woodhams, a researcher at London-based internet research firm Top10VPN, said in an email that there had been a 321% increase in VPN demand on June 30 compared to the rest of the month’s daily average .
Tam Yiu-chung, the only Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, who drafted the security law, said that “social media should not be used to incite crime or fear or other forms of chaos and turbulence in society”.
However, he added that fears about the law were exaggerated and that people would not find their lives too limited, suggesting that more “education” was needed about the new regulations.
CNN’s Eric Cheung, Vanessa Chan and Philip Wang contributed to the reports.
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