The Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) yesterday endorsed national security legislation for Hong Kong that has prompted new protests in the territory.
Lawmakers approved the bill by a vote of 2,878 to one with six abstentions, in line with the largely ceremonial body’s custom of near-unanimous support for legislative changes decided by the Chinese Communist Party.
The bill would alter Hong Kong’s Basic Law to require the territory to enforce measures to be decided by the NPC Standing Committee, which handles most lawmaking work.
Photo: Bloomberg
It reflects the determination of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government to tighten control over Hong Kong following 11 months of anti-government protests.
Activists in Hong Kong say the legislation would undermine the “high degree of autonomy” promised to the former British colony when it was handed back to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” framework and might be used to suppress political activity.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) said that it is consistent with Beijing’s promises.
Photo: AFP
“The decision adopted by the NPC session is designed for steady implementation of ‘one country, two systems,’ and Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability,” Li told a news conference.
The proposed legislation led US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday to announce that Washington would no longer treat Hong Kong as autonomous from Beijing.
That could hurt the territory’s attractiveness as a business center.
Li called for mutual respect and Sino-US cooperation to promote “extensive common interests” in resolving global problems, and promoting trade, science and other fields.
“Both countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” Li said.
Pompeo notified the US Congress that the administration of US President Donald Trump no longer regards Hong Kong as autonomous from mainland China.
“Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as US laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1997,” Pompeo said in a statement.
Pompeo’s certification came amid calls in the US and elsewhere for Washington and others to react against Beijing imposing its national security legislation on Hong Kong.
After sending the notification to Capitol Hill, Pompeo spoke by telephone with British Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Raab.
The two agreed that China “must honor its commitments and obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.”
The US, the UK, Canada and Australia yesterday issued a joint statement, saying that China is violating its international obligations.
“China’s decision to impose the new national security law on Hong Kong lies in direct conflict with its international obligations under the principles of the legally binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration. The proposed law would undermine the ‘one country, two systems’ framework,” the statement said.
Additional reporting by AFP
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS