Hong Kong national security law passed by China

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday evening that she welcomed the introduction of the legislation.

“Safeguarding national security is the constitutional duty of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The HKSAR Government welcomes the passage of the national security law by the NPCSC today,” Lam said in a statement.

“The national security law will come into effect later today,” she added.

Lam said the legislation will be “applied by way of promulgation,” which bypasses the city’s legislature.

She repeated previous remarks, saying the law “seeks to practically and effectively prevent, curb and punish four types of crimes seriously endangering national security.”

Lam confirmed that these include: “acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security.”

The chief executive said that dedicated units in the Hong Kong Police Force and the Department of Justice will be responsible for enforcing the legislation.

Lam added: “I am confident that after the implementation of the national security law, the social unrest which has troubled Hong Kong people for nearly a year will be eased and stability will be restored, thereby enabling Hong Kong to start anew, focus on economic development and improve people’s livelihood.”

In a video address to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier on Tuesday, Lam said the law will “have no retrospective effect” — a major concern for many democracy activists in the city, especially for those facing charges relating to the protests last year.

Additionally Lam said that Hong Kong authorities would exercise jurisdiction over offenses under the law, “except in rare specified situations,” suggesting that some cases would be tried in mainland China.

China’s State Council Information Office said it would will hold a press briefing on the national security law in Beijing on Wednesday morning.

The legislation has been widely criticized by opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong, human rights groups and politicians worldwide, with many saying it will cement Beijing’s direct control over the semi-autonomous city. Many worry it could be used to target political dissidents, activists, human rights lawyers and journalists amid the central government’s continuing crackdown on civil society under Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Activists have vowed to demonstrate against the law on July 1, the anniversary of the territory’s handover from British colonial rule to China in 1997. The day has become an annual day of protests in the city, but for the first time since handover police have not given permission to protesters to hold peaceful demonstrations.

“One country, two systems”

The law’s passing is expected to fuel further anger and protests in the city, which was rocked by over six months of increasingly violent anti-government unrest last year.

Crucially, those freedoms include the right to assembly, a free press, and an independent judiciary, rights that are not enjoyed on the Chinese mainland.

Chinese Communist Party officials and state media have defended the law as vital to protecting national security in the wake of last year’s protests and a 17-year failure by the Hong Kong government to pass similar legislation, since the last effort was met with mass protests in 2003.

In a blueprint of the legislation revealed by Chinese state media Xinhua on June 22, mainland Chinese officials will be allowed to operate in Hong Kong for the first time and give Beijing the power to override local laws.

According to the blueprint, Beijing will establish a national security office, staffed by mainland security services to supervise local authorities in policing the law. A national security commission will also be set up, with a Beijing-appointed adviser and operating under “the supervision of the central government.”

Additionally, Hong Kong’s top official, the Chief Executive, will pick which judges hear national security cases, while mainland Chinese authorities will be able to “exercise jurisdiction” over cases in special circumstances — a controversial clause that raises the prospect that certain crimes in Hong Kong could result in trials on the mainland.

Ultimately, the blueprint makes clear that national security law trumps local laws. If there is a conflict with existing Hong Kong law, the national security law will prevail.

Reaction from Hong Kong and around the world

He said Hong Kong “will continue to fight for our freedoms and democracy for the city’s next generations. When justice fails, our fight goes on.”

Following news of the legislation passing, Hong Kong democracy group Demosisto, which was formed as a political party by Wong in 2016, said it will “disband and cease all operation as a group given the circumstances.”

It comes after Wong and other activist leaders, Nathan Law and Agnes Chow, said they would be withdrawing from Demosisto because of the threat posed by the law.

Wong and other activists have met with foreign diplomats and testified before the US Congress on Hong Kong’s freedoms since the large-scale pro-democracy protests broke out last summer.

Rights group Amnesty International said the legislation “represents the greatest threat to human rights in the city’s recent history.”

“The speed and secrecy with which China has pushed through this legislation intensifies the fear that Beijing has calculatingly created a weapon of repression to be used against government critics, including people who are merely expressing their views or protesting peacefully,” said the head of Amnesty International’s China Team, Joshua Rosenzweig.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said reports on China passing the security law “proves that ‘one country, two systems’ is not credible.” Tsai said that Taiwan will start an office from July 1, which will “provide humanitarian aid for our friends in Hong Kong.”

In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called the passing of the law “regrettable.”

“As Beijing moves forward with passing the national security law … We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China,” Pompeo said.

This is the first action the US government has taken to upend the special status trade relationship between the US and Hong Kong, following the determination that Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from China due to Beijing imposing the national security law on the city.