HONG KONG - China’s legislature has passed a controversial national security law for Hong Kong that is causing widespread jitters among activists and ordinary citizens.
Passage of the law has prompted several activist groups to immediately close while individuals delete social media posts out of fear that the new measures could send them to jail.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that China’s top lawmaking body, the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, adopted the measure on Tuesday and President Xi Jinping signed an order to endorse it. Xinhua said the new measure will be added to a list of national laws that apply to Hong Kong in an annex of its mini constitution, the Basic Law.
The law was enacted late Tuesday night at 11 p.m. local time after it was gazetted by the Hong Kong government, and the full text of the law was finally revealed nearly 14 hours after the law passed in Beijing Tuesday early morning.
Xinhua quoted Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, as saying the legislation has adopted the principle of “punishing a minority while protecting the majority.” He said the move will safeguard the country’s security and Hong Kong’s “long-term stability.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Tuesday that said, “The United States will continue to stand with the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong and respond to Beijing’s attacks on freedoms of speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the rule of law, all of which have, until now, allowed the territory to flourish.
“Today marks a sad day for Hong Kong, and for freedom-loving people across China,” the statement said.
On Monday, ahead of the law’s likely passage, Pompeo that said: “The Chinese Communist Party’s decision to eviscerate Hong Kong’s freedoms has forced the Trump Administration to re-evaluate its policies toward the territory.”
Aimed at stopping the often-violent protests in the anti-government movement that roiled Hong Kong over the past year, the legislation criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
The law states that anyone who organizes or participates in activities that aims at “splitting the country” and “undermining the unification of the country,” through force or not, would be considered guilty of secession. It also states that anyone who organizes or participates in activities aimed at subverting state power through the use of force “or other illegal means” would be guilty of “subversion of state power.”
For these categories, if convicted the “principle” or “serious” offenders will be given life imprisonment or imprisonment of 10 years or more. Active participants would be sentenced to three to 10 years in jail and ordinary participants would be given three years or less in jail or detention. People who incite, assist, abet or fund the people guilty of secession and subversion would be guilty also: serious offenders will get five to 10 years in jail and less-serious offenders will get five years or less in jail or detention.
For the category of terrorism, the law says anyone who coerce the central Chinese government, Hong Kong government and intimidate the public to “materialize political advocacy,” organize or participate in a range of acts that involves violence, explosions or arsons aimed at creating terrorism would be guilty. People convicted in “serious” cases will be given between five to 10 years in jail and have their properties confiscated.
The law also says anyone who steals, spies, buys, or provides state secrets or intelligence concerning national security for a foreign country shall be guilty of an offence. Those who seek help from or conspires with a foreign country or receive instructions or funding or “other kinds of” support from a foreign country would be guilty of “collusion“ with foreign forces.
If convicted, a “serious offender” would be imprisoned for 10 years or more or given life imprisonment.
Local media reports quote sources as saying that Hong Kong’s top leader and the Beijing-led national security agency in Hong Kong could send "serious" national security cases to mainland Chinese courts to be tried under "special circumstances.''
Local reports also say while the law is not supposed to be applied retroactively, acts from the past two years that have “endangered the state” could be used as evidence in courts, they say.
Eric Cheung, law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the law was worse than he had expected. He said the language of the law adopted mainland Chinese legal concepts, which are starkly different from the concepts in Hong Kong's common law system