BEIJING: China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong yesterday, a historic move that critics and many western governments fear will smother the finance hub’s freedoms and hollow out its autonomy.
As the law was signed by President Xi Jinping little more than six weeks after it was first unveiled, Beijing described it as a “sword” hanging over the heads of those who endanger national security.
The contents of the law have so far been kept secret from Hong Kong’s 7.5 million inhabitants, sparking alarm, anger and fear.
Pro-China supporters display Chinese and Hong Kong flags as they raise a toast with champagne during a rally near the government headquarters in Hong Kong as China passed a sweeping national security law for the city. — AFP photo
“It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before,” prominent democracy campaigner Joshua Wong tweeted as his political party Demosisto announced it was disbanding.
“With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate.”
Some Hong Kongers yesterday said they were deleting Twitter accounts and scrubbing other social media platforms.
In contrast, former city leader Leung Chun-ying took to Facebook to offer bounties of up to HK$1 million (US$130,000) for anyone who could help secure the first prosecutions under the new legislation or track down people who have recently fled the city.
The United States, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations rights watchdog have all voiced fears it could be used to stifle criticism of Beijing, which wields similar laws to crush dissent on the mainland.
The law bypassed Hong Kong’s fractious legislature and came into effect yesterday evening, according to the city’s current leader Carrie Lam.
“The fact that Hong Kong people will only come to know what’s really in this new law after the fact is more than preposterous,” Claudia Mo, an opposition lawmaker, told AFP.
As part of the 1997 handover from Britain, Hong Kong was guaranteed certain freedoms – as well as judicial and legislative autonomy – for 50 years in a deal known as “One Country, Two Systems”.
The formula helped to cement the city’s status as a world-class business hub, bolstered by a reliable judiciary and political freedoms unseen on the mainland.
Critics have long accused Beijing of chipping away at that status, but they describe the new security law as the most brazen move yet.
A summary of the law published by the official state news agency Xinhua this month said it would cover subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.
China’s security agencies will also be able to set up shop publicly in the city for the first time.
And Beijing will have jurisdiction over some cases, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between Hong Kong and the mainland’s party-controlled courts.
Analysts said that even without knowing details, the security law radically restructures the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong.
“It’s a fundamental change that dramatically undermines both the local and international community’s confidence towards Hong Kong’s “One Country, Two Systems” model and its status as a robust financial centre,” Hong Kong political analyst Dixon Sing told AFP. — AFP