China passes national security law in turning point for Hong Kong
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[June 30, 2020]
By Clare Jim and Yew Lun Tian
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's
parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on
Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former
British colony's way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years
ago.
Details of the law - which comes in response to last year's
often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city and aims to tackle
subversion, terrorism, separatism and collusion with foreign forces -
are due out later on Tuesday.
Amid fears the legislation will crush the global financial hub's
freedoms, and reports that the heaviest penalty under it would be life
imprisonment, pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong's Demosisto group said
it would dissolve.
"It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before," Wong said on
Twitter.
The legislation pushes Beijing further along a collision course with the
United States, Britain and other Western governments, which have said it
erodes the high degree of autonomy the city was granted at its July 1,
1997, handover.
The United States, already in dispute with China over trade, the South
China Sea and the novel coronavirus, began eliminating Hong Kong's
special status under U.S. law on Monday, halting defence exports and
restricting technology access.
China said it would retaliate.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, speaking via video link to the United
Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, urged the international
community to "respect our country's right to safeguard national
security".
She said the law, which is expected to come into force imminently, would
not undermine the city's autonomy or its independent judiciary.
Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have repeatedly said the
legislation is aimed at a few "troublemakers" and will not affect rights
and freedoms, nor investor interests.
The editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a tabloid published by the
People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist
Party, said on Twitter the heaviest penalty under the law was life
imprisonment, without providing details.
Details of the law would be published later on Tuesday, said Henry Tang,
a Hong Kong delegate to China's top advisory body, after a meeting at
Beijing's main representative office.
'OVERPOWERING'
The legislation may get an early test with activists and pro-democracy
politicians saying they would defy a police ban, amid coronavirus
restrictions, on a rally on the anniversary of the July 1 handover.
At last year's demonstration, which came amid a series of pro-democracy
protests, a crowd stormed and vandalised the city's legislature.
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Pro-China supporters celebrate with champagne after China's
parliament passes national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong,
China June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
"We will never accept the passing of the law, even though it is so
overpowering," said Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai.
It is unclear if attending the unauthorised rally would constitute a
national security crime if the law came into force by then.
A majority in Hong Kong opposes the legislation, a poll conducted
for Reuters this month showed, but support for the protests has
fallen to only a slim majority.
Police dispersed a handful of activists protesting against the law
at a shopping mall.
Dozens of supporters of Beijing popped champagne corks and waved
Chinese flags in celebration in front of government headquarters.
"I'm very happy," said one elderly man, surnamed Lee.
"This will leave anti-China spies and people who brought chaos to
Hong Kong with nowhere to go."
This month, China's official Xinhua news agency unveiled some of the
law's provisions, including that it would supersede existing Hong
Kong legislation and that interpretation powers belong to China's
parliament top committee.
Beijing is expected to set up a national security office in Hong
Kong for the first time and could also exercise jurisdiction on
certain cases.
Judges for security cases are expected to be appointed by the city's
chief executive. Senior judges now allocate rosters up through Hong
Kong's independent judicial system.
It is not known which specific activities are to be made illegal,
how precisely they are defined or what punishment they carry.
Britain, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and others have also
criticised the legislation.
China has hit back at the outcry, denouncing "interference" in its
internal affairs.
(Additional reporting by Yanni Chow, Carol Mang, Joyce Zhou, Tyrone
Siu, Jessie Pang and James Pomfret in Hong Kong; Writing by Marius
Zaharia; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel)
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