China yesterday imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, a historic move that critics and many Western governments fear will smother the territory’s freedoms and hollow out its autonomy.
As the law was signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) 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.
Photo: AP
“It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before,” prominent democracy campaigner Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) wrote on Twitter as his political party Demosisto announced that it was disbanding. “With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate.”
Some Hong Kongers said that they were deleting their Twitter accounts and scrubbing other social media platforms.
In contrast, former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) took to Facebook to offer bounties of up to HK$1 million (US$129,026) for anyone who could help secure the first prosecutions under the new legislation or track down people who have recently fled the territory.
Photo: Reuters
The US, Britain, the EU and Human Rights Watch 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 was to take effect last night, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) said.
“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,” said Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), an opposition Hong Kong lawmaker.
A summary of the legislation published by Xinhua news agency this month said that it would cover subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.
China’s security agencies would also be able to set up publicly in the territory for the first time. Beijing will also have jurisdiction over some cases, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between Hong Kong and the mainland’s Chinese Communist Party-controlled courts.
On the mainland, national security laws are routinely used to jail critics, especially for the vague offense of “subversion.”
Speaking via video link to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Lam attempted to defend the law.
The Beijing-appointed leader said that Hong Kong had been living with “a gaping hole in national security,” and that the law was “urgently needed.”
Lam said that the legislation would help heal a territory “traumatized by escalating violence fanned by external forces.”
She was referring to last year’s pro-democracy protests, which began in response to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to the mainland.
“I urge the international community to respect our country’s right to safeguard national security, and Hong Kong people’s aspirations for stability and harmony,” she said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS