Hong Kong crisis: China presents security laws banning subversion and separatism
China’s proposal
for imposing
new national security laws on Hong Kong would bar subversion,
separatism or acts of foreign interference against the central government and
would allow the central government to set up “security organs” in the
territory, it has emerged. The Communist party’s
efforts to impose a national security law have been widely interpreted as a
move to fully take control over the territory, wracked by pro-democracy
protests for the last year. Critics say it will effectively erase the “one
country, two systems” framework that is meant to grant Hong Kong a high
degree of autonomy.
According to a draft of the
legislation, China’s parliament has set up a legal framework “prevent, stop
and punish any act to split the country, subvert state power, organise and
carry out terrorist activities and other behaviours that seriously endanger
national security.” The bill bars any
“activities of foreign and external forces to interfere” in Hong Kong’s
affairs. “When needed, relevant national security organs of the Central
People’s Government will set up agencies in [Hong Kong] to fulfil relevant
duties to safeguard national security”.
News of China’s plan
has prompted broad international condemnation and raised the prospect of
further unrest. Successive Hong Kong governments have attempted to pass a
national security law – the most recent was shelved after half a million people
took to the streets in protest in 2003....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/22/chinas-national-security-law-ban-subversion-and-separatism-hong-kong