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China pushes highly controversial security law for Hong Kong 'This is the end of Hong Kong': China pushes controversial security laws
(about 2 hours later)
Proposed legislation follows turmoil on territory, which was convulsed by pro-democracy protests last year Proposed legislation would effectively end one country, two systems status, say critics
Beijing’s parliament has said it will discuss legislation to enforce national security measures in Hong Kong, in a highly controversial move that will escalate tensions in the territory. China has announced that it will push sweeping national security laws for Hong Kong at its annual meeting of parliament, in a move that critics say will effectively end the territory’s autonomy.
Pro-democracy protests last year plunged the city into its deepest turmoil since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, and Beijing has since made it clear it wants new security legislation passed. Huge pro-democracy protests last year plunged Hong Kong into its deepest turmoil since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, and Beijing has since made it clear it wants new security legislation passed.
Article 23 of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, says the city must enact national security laws to prohibit “treason, secession, sedition (and) subversion” against the Chinese government. China’s annual meeting of parliament, a largely rubber-stamping exercise, kicks off its full session on Friday in Beijing.
But the clause has never been implemented due to deeply held public fears it would curtail Hong Kong’s cherished rights, such as freedom of expression. An attempt to enact Article 23 in 2003 was shelved after half a million people took to the streets in protest. “National security is the bedrock underpinning the stability of the country,” said Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the National People’s Congress (NPC), as he announced that delegates would “establish and improve a legal framework and mechanism for safeguarding national security” in Hong Kong.
At a press conference before the opening of China’s annual meeting of parliament on Friday, Zhang Yesui, a spokesman for the National People’s Congress, said: “Because of new circumstances and need, the NPC is exercising the power enshrined in the constitution to establish and improve a legal framework and mechanism for safeguarding national security and upholding the institutional framework for ‘one country, two systems’.” Condemnation of the Chinese proposal was swift, with some saying it potentially spelled the end of the “one country, two systems” framework that is supposed to grant the territory a high degree of autonomy.
He added: “Hong Kong is an inseparable part of the People’s Republic of China. The National People’s Congress is the country’s highest organ of state power. National security is the bedrock underpinning the stability of the country. Safeguarding national security serves the fundamental interest of all Chinese, and Hong Kong patriots included.” The announcement confirmed earlier reports that Chinese lawmakers were preparing measures for national security laws. Article 23 of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, says the city must enact national security laws to prohibit “treason, secession, sedition [and] subversion” against the Chinese government.
The announcement confirmed earlier reports that Chinese lawmakers were preparing measures for a sweeping national security law, previously shelved in Hong Kong because of widespread resistance. The law would bar sedition, foreign interference, terrorism and secession. But the clause has never been implemented due to deeply held public fears it would curtail Hong Kong’s cherished rights, such as freedom of expression. An attempt to enact article 23 in 2003 was shelved after half a million people took to the streets in protest.
China’s annual meeting of parliament – a largely rubber-stamp body – kicks off its full session on Friday in Beijing. By passing a law in the NPC, Chinese authorities will effectively bypass local opposition.
The legislation could be a turning point for China’s freest and most international city, potentially triggering a revision of its special status in Washington, and is likely to spark more unrest. Reports earlier on Thursday citing unnamed sources said the proposed law would bar sedition, foreign interference, terrorism and secession. Zhang said details of the proposal would be announced at NPC proceedings on Friday. The resolution is likely to be passed by China’s parliament next week.
Social media posts urged people to gather to protest in Hong Kong on Thursday night, and dozens of people were seen shouting pro-democracy slogans in a shopping mall as riot police stood nearby. The announcement comes as anti-government protests that have overwhelmed Hong Kong since last June approach their one-year anniversary. In recent months the protests have been paused as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and much of the world has been distracted. In the meantime Beijing has appeared more determined to definitively quell the demonstrations.
Hong Kongers took to the streets sometimes in their millions last year to protest against a now withdrawn bill that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China. The movement broadened to include demands for greater democracy amid perceptions that Beijing was tightening its grip over the city. “This is the end of Hong Kong,” said the pro-democracy legislator Dennis Kwok. “Beijing, the Central People’s Government, has completely breached its promise to the Hong Kong people ... They are completely walking back on their obligation.”
“If Beijing passes the law … how [far] will civil society resist repressive laws? How much impact will it unleash on to Hong Kong as an international financial centre?” said Ming Sing, a political scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Critics say the measure severely undermines Hong Kong’s legal framework, established under the terms of the former British colony’s handover to Chinese control in 1997. Under its Basic Law, Hong Kong is meant to enact security legislation on its own. “This spells the beginning of the end of Hong Kong under ‘one country, two systems’,” said Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at the Baptist University of Hong Kong.
By preparing a law in China’s parliament, authorities could effectively bypass Hong Kong’s legislature and local opposition. “It would mean also communist-style political struggles have trumped the rule of law and a dagger that has stabbed into the heart of the city’s liberal foundations,” he said.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on 6 May he was delaying a report assessing whether Hong Kong was sufficiently autonomous to warrant Washington’s special economic treatment, which has helped it remain a world financial centre. The delay was to account for any actions at the NPC, he said. “This is an expedient way to control Hong Kong,” said Johnny Lau, veteran China watcher and former journalist at the pro-China Wen Wei Po.
Tension between the two superpowers has heightened in recent weeks as they have exchanged accusations on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, souring an already worsening relationship over trade. Legal observers and human rights advocates worry the law will be used to target critics of the central government. Over the last year, Hong Kong and Chinese authorities have often described demonstrators as terrorists.
Reuters contributed to this report “The obvious worry is that in China, we have seen ‘national security’, as well as related concepts like ‘counter-terrorism’, being used as an excuse for all sorts of human rights abuses, including the arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of dissidents, activists and human rights lawyers,” said Wilson Leung, a Hong Kong barrister who is part of the Progressive Lawyers Group.
According to legal experts, Chinese lawmakers may be able to enforce the law in Hong Kong through a provision, article 18, of the Basic Law that allows certain national laws in mainland China to be applied in Hong Kong, either through declaration or local legislation.
Martin Lee, the founder of the Democratic Party and a senior barrister who helped draft the Basic Law, said he insisted on the language in the document that “Hong Kong shall legislate on its own” national security laws.
“This is a blatant breach of their promise, they have reversed things completely,” he said. “This is the wrong procedure.”
He said the article 18 provision should apply to national laws only, not laws that specifically relate to Hong Kong. “If this precedent is set, then there is no need for [Hong Kong’s] legislative council,” he said.
Eric Cheung, the director of clinical legal education of the faculty of law at the University of Hong Kong, said: “The problem here is that if they want to do it, of course they can do it in any way they want to. The reality is that we are powerless.”
As China’s most important political event opens this week, after almost three months of delay, there are other signs of measures to stop the protests in Hong Kong. At the opening of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on Thursday, Wang Yang, the head of the political advisory body, said the party supported strengthening the ability of its members in Hong Kong to “speak out, stop chaos, and reinstate order”.
Still, demonstrators, who have begun to take to the streets again, appeared more determined to pursue their demands. On LIHKG, a forum popular with demonstrators, one popular comment, posted after the NPC’s announcement said: “The old Hong Kong is about to be completely eroded by the CCP. The new Hong Kong will be established by a seed of consciousness … in the hearts of Hong Kong people. It may be a long process but one day, eventually, it will come.”
Additional reporting by Lillian Yang