By Jennifer Creery
https://hongkongfp.com/author/jennifercreery/
Once a vague spectre, national security legislation became a reality in Hong Kong last month when – in less than six weeks – Beijing imposed a law granting authorities sweeping powers to clamp down on dissent.
Drafted behind closed doors without local legislative input, the law ostensibly targets acts in the city deemed to threaten state security, including terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, following months of sometimes violent democracy protests.
With broad, catch-all provisions – encompassing acts committed abroad – and charges punishable by up to life imprisonment, the law has sent shivers down the spines of activists who feared it would chip away at the territory’s treasured civil liberties.
The move was welcomed by the pro-Beijing camp as heralding the return of social “stability,” but activists and NGOs have warned it will open the floodgates to more direct mainland interference and spell the end of One Country, Two Systems.
Within a fortnight, local authorities have outlawed select protest phrases and activists were arrested for allegedly inciting secession. Critics warned of a “chilling effect” as foreign governments, such as Australia and New Zealand, suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong; former lawmaker Nathan Law fled to the UK and Downing Street created a “lifeboat” citizenship scheme for British National (Overseas) passport holders looking to emigrate from Hong Kong.
https://hongkongfp.com/2020/08/01/a-city-shackled-how-beijings-security-law-transformed-hong-kong-in-one-short-month/