Read more about China passes national security law giving it sweeping powers over HK on Business Standard. The legislation published late Tuesday includes sentences as long as life in prison for the most serious category of crimes, including subversion of state power and collusion with foreign forces<\/b>
\nChinese President signed a landmark national security law for Hong Kong, a sweeping attempt to quell dissent that has already drawn US retaliation and could endanger the city\u2019s appeal as a financial hub.
The legislation published late Tuesday includes sentences as long as life in prison for the most serious category of crimes, including subversion of state power and collusion with foreign forces. It took effect immediately. U. K.Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about the move while the Trump administration vowed \u201cstrong actions\u201d if Beijing didn\u2019t reverse course.
Hong Kong\u2019s business community, democracy activists and Beijing-appointed leaders alike were largely observers as Chinese lawmakers completed the carefully orchestrated rollout of the legislation that will shape the city\u2019s future. Lam, who had defended the law even as she acknowledged she hadn\u2019t seen a full draft, said the local police force and Department of Justice were ready to enforce it.
\u201cI am confident that after the implementation of the National Security Law, the social unrest which has troubled people for nearly a year will be eased and stability will be restored,\u201d Lam said.
The measure to punish acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces comes on the eve of the anniversary of Hong Kong\u2019s return to Chinese rule in 1997. The organizer of an annual July 1 march that drew more than half a million people last year lost a last-minute appeal Tuesday to hold the event after being denied permission by police, who cited coronavirus risk and the potential for violence.
Some in the pro-democracy camp vowed to march regardless, and despite the threat of arrest. Prominent activists, including former student leaders Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, cut ties with political groups Tuesday in an apparent attempt to avoid implicating each other.
\u201cLaws that would have fundamental differences to our way of life have been passed thousands of miles away by people we know nothing about, with contents of this legislation which we know nothing about,\u201d pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok said at an evening briefing. \u201cThat\u2019s no way to treat a civilized, educated city such as Hong Kong, but this is it.
The way they\u2019ve done it is the most ruthless, undignified assault on the freedom, human rights and the rule of law of \u201d
The new law put limits on civil liberties and Hong Kong\u2019s independent judicial system, which has helped attract hundreds of companies to President Donald Trump warned last month the US would start rolling back Hong Kong\u2019s preferential trade status, while the U. K. and Taiwan have offered new paths to residency for the city\u2019s 7.5 million inhabitants.
The U. K., which handed Hong Kong back after a 1984 treaty promising to preserve its \u201chigh degree of autonomy,\u201d described the law\u2019s passage as a \u201cgrave step.\u201d Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga meanwhile called the action \u201cregrettable.\u201d On Monday, the Trump administration made it harder to export sensitive American technology to Hong Kong, suspending regulations allowing special treatment to the territory over dual-use technologies like carbon fiber used to make both golf clubs and missile components.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said no country had the right to interfere in Hong Kong\u2019s affairs, threatening \u201cnecessary retaliatory measures\u201d against the US \u201cThe US wants to use the so-called sanctions to obstruct China\u2019s legislative process to safeguard national security in Hong Kong. Such an attempt stands no chance of succeeding,\u201d Zhao said.
The law brings yet more uncertainty as Hong Kong faces its deepest recession on record after last year\u2019s protests and the global pandemic. Unemployment has risen to a 15-year high, while investors are putting money elsewhere. Some expatriates and Hong Kong residents have said they\u2019re considering leaving the city.
Hong Kong\u2019s freedoms have become increasingly tenuous as Xi grows more confident in China\u2019s ability to withstand foreign pressure and Hong Kong protesters embrace more radical positions such as independence. Beijing\u2019s steady moves to integrate the city boiled over into historic and sometimes violent protests last year, after Lam attempted to pass a bill allowing extraditions to the mainland.
Chinese officials have said the security law is necessary to ensure peace following last year\u2019s chaos, which included vandalism of subway stations, regular use of Molotov cocktails and a brief occupation of Hong Kong\u2019s airport. NPC Chairman Li Zhanshu, the Communist Party\u2019s No.3 leader, said in a speech that the law was compatible with Hong Kong\u2019s legal system and would \u201cpunish extremely few while protecting the majority.\u201d
Surveys show a majority of Hong Kong residents oppose the law. The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said more than 80% of the companies it surveyed were concerned or very concerned about the legislation — although some companies have begun to endorse the law after HSBC Holdings Plc came under pressure for remaining silent and backed it.
Opposition lawmakers have expressed concern the law will be used to bar them from seeking office in a legislative election in September.
didn\u2019t publish the full draft law or allow a public debate, which is required under the Basic Law, Hong Kong\u2019s mini-constitution. The process also bypassed Hong Kong\u2019s elected Legislative Council.
The new law goes further toward revising the \u201cone country, two systems\u201d framework designed to protect Hong Kong\u2019s liberal institutions and Common Law legal system. The legislation will let Chinese security agents operate in Hong Kong, allow to prosecute some cases and give Lam the power to pick judges to hear national security matters.
\u201cYou have in Hong Kong the Common Law system and imposing on it what passes as the law in will produce chaos which will be intolerable for the people of Hong Kong and eventually will be intolerable for business, as well,\u201d Chris Patten, the territory\u2019s last colonial governor, told Bloomberg Television on Monday. \u201cHong Kong represents all those aspects of liberal democracy which so hates.\u201d<\/p>\n