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The proposal, which democracy activists in the United States and Hong Kong have already condemned for restricting the city’s rights, was unveiled on Friday.
Why did China take this law?
Article 23 of the Basic Law defining the Hong Kong rule stipulates that the city must pass a security law to avoid “treason, subversive activity and incitement to rebellion” against the country’s government.
Hong Kong has been trying to pass the law for many years, but protests by pro-democracy activists that paralyzed the city last year forced it to postpone consideration and Beijing to slow down.
Last month, senior official Luo Huining, director of the Beijing Liaison Office in Hong Kong, said the city urgently needed a new national security law to combat violent protests and independence activists.
On Friday, Wang Chen, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress (NLK), warned that “powerful measures” were needed to curb the pro-democracy movement in the city.
What do Hong Kong people think about this?
However, Article 23 has so far not been implemented due to social fears that it will restrict Hong Kong’s most precious freedoms, including freedom of speech and expression.
Such freedoms are unimaginable in mainland China, but in Hong Kong they are protected by the 1997 British-Beijing agreement that returned the city to China.
In 2003, an attempt to implement Article 23 was postponed, with half a million people taking to the streets to protest. Following this failure, Regina Ip, the director of security for the Hong Kong administration, resigned.
China’s new movement will allow its lawmakers to bypass the Hong Kong legislature and pass the law directly in the future.
What happens next?
Chinese lawmakers are expected to automatically approve the bill on Thursday, the last day of the annual session, and details of the law will be presented at the next NLK meeting scheduled for next month.
According to Wang Chen, the law will be implemented in Hong Kong, although this unprecedented move could spark a new wave of protests.
On Friday, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam promised to “fully cooperate” with Beijing on the law.
The Hong Kong leader, who also attended the NLK session, said the local government “would draft this law as soon as possible to fulfill its duty to guarantee national security.”
Jimmy Sham, head of the Civil Rights Front, which organized the protests at the time of last year, on Friday asked millions to take to the streets again.
What does this mean for the “one country, two systems” principle?
Pro-democracy lawmakers say the law marks the end of the “one country, two systems” principle enshrined in the 1997 London-Beijing agreement on the transfer of Hong Kong to China, which guarantees the city’s partial autonomy.
The fear of human freedoms in Hong Kong, which was constantly restricted by China, persisted before the security bill was proposed.
“This is the end of Hong Kong, this is the end of ‘one country, two systems’, don’t be fooled,” Dennis Kwok, a member of the Civil Party, told reporters.
“He (Beijing) is now completely giving up his commitment to the people of Hong Kong,” he added.
Tanya Chan, a pro-democracy MP, said the law “leads us to believe that the” one country, one system “principle is officially being implemented in Hong Kong.”
United States: New Security Law – Funeral bells for Hong Kong’s autonomy
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Beijing on Friday for its proposed new security law for Hong Kong and warned that it could deprive the semi-autonomous territory of special trade privileges.
“A decision to circumvent Hong Kong’s well-proven legislative procedures and ignore the will of the Hong Kong people would mean funeral bells for much of Beijing’s autonomy promised to Hong Kong,” Pompeo said in a statement.
Pompeo said the decision could lead the United States to refuse to confirm Hong Kong’s autonomy in a new US law that attacks Beijing to express support for months of pro-democracy protests.
If the United States no longer views Hong Kong as an autonomous territory, this financial center could lose its trade preferences with the world’s largest economy.
“The United States urges Beijing to reconsider its disastrous proposal, fulfill its international obligations, and respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, democratic institutions, and civil liberties, which are necessary to preserve its (Hong Kong) special status under American law, “said Pompeo.
“Any decision that invades Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms, as enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law, will inevitably affect our assessment of the principle of” one country, two systems “and the state of the territory,” said.
China promised to secure Hong Kong’s autonomy by regaining control of the Great Britain area in 1997.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam promised to “fully cooperate” with Beijing on the security law earlier in the session of the Chinese parliament on Friday.
The new law will impose sanctions for “destructive activities” and other acts that threaten the communist system. Pro-democracy democratic activists in Hong Kong say it will lose its special status.
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