China is facing mounting criticism over a planned security law for Hong Kong which would make it a crime to undermine Beijing’s authority in the territory.Image copyright:REUTERS
Chaos erupts in Hong Kong under new security law as protestors plan ‘parliament in exile’
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | JULY 3rd 2020
The pro-democracy activists of Hong Kong have been in particular upheaval since the announcement of a new security law being put in place. As such, many of its activists expressed their intentions to put in place a ‘parliament in exile’, in the unofficial sense, as a message to the mainland of China, according to campaigner Simon Cheng.
Over the past year, the uproar over the threat to Hong Kong’s freedoms from mainland China has worsened and seen few points of calm. The protests grew in ferocity once again since the announcement of a new security law – just recently implemented. The law decides that those found guilty of crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces can receive a maximum life imprisonment. Under this law, certain forms of protest, as well as damaging government buildings could be counted as ‘subversion’.
Activists worry that the wording of the security law is too broad, and in its sense could specifically target protestors who defy the Chinese rule.
“This law is to punish a tiny number of criminals who seriously endanger national security — a sharp sword hanging high over their heads that will serve as a deterrent against external forces meddling in Hong Kong,” said a deputy director of the central Chinese government office for Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming, during a news conference.
On top of this, China has also recently appointed a new head on their security team in Hong Kong, by the name of Zheng Yanxiong. This security team is in charge of enforcing the new security law. Yanxiong is known in the mainland for having experience in previously dealing with protests, in Wukan, a village in China’s south.
One man was already charged under the new legislation, after having allegedly driven a motorbike into a group of Hong Kong’s police during a protest. He became the first to be charged under the security law. Police discussed it in a statement, saying “A 23-year-old local man has been charged with one count of inciting others for secession and one count of terrorist activity,” on Friday.
Furthermore, the common protest slogan in the city, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” is now considered illegal due to its connotations of separatism and subversion, under the new security law, according to the city’s government.
The security law was thought to be henceforth implemented by China’s parliament as a response to the violent stream of protests that occurred last year, sparked by rising fears that Beijing was attempting to break down the city’s individual freedoms under the “one country, two systems” formula that’d been agreed upon when the former British colony had been returned to Chinese rule in 1997, meant to remain under its own Westernised system for a minimum of 50 years. Beijing has gone on to deny the accusation.
The law had come into full effect on Tuesday, and was even signed for by president Xi Jinping. All criticisms made towards the new security law were promptly dismissed by Beijing, who claim it’s necessary to halt a repeat of the rioting held back in 2019.
Now, acts such as the purposeful damaging of public transport facilities, as was common in the 2019 rioting, can be punished under the new law as well. Such details are what brings more and more critics to the conclusion that the security law was established to target the protestors.
By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2020
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Hong Kong Leader Carrie Lam Addresses Proposed National Security Laws
Protests Flare In Hong Kong After New Security Law Announced
Hong Kong - ‘One Country, Two Systems’
