Hong Kong lawmakers unanimously passed a new national security bill on Tuesday, fast-tracking a key piece of long-debated legislation. Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed the bill after a month of public consultation.
The package, known as Article 23, makes crimes such as treason, sabotage, rebellion, theft of state secrets, foreign interference and espionage punishable by jail terms ranging from several years to life.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said the law would come into force on 23 March, calling it ‘a historic moment for Hong Kong’.
The new law is in addition to a national security law that China has already implemented. The US had previously imposed sanctions in response to this law.
Andrew Leung, leader of the legislature, said: “We have to legislate for the security of our country and Hong Kong. Whatever comes will come. We don’t care,” he said.
Criticism from the US
The US claims the law was imposed by mainland China and will be used ‘to jail pro-democracy activists’.
The fact that the new law will apply outside Hong Kong has led to criticism from the West that it could be used ‘to intimidate and restrict freedom of expression’ in other countries.
Western critics, including the US government, argue that the law could be used to ‘eliminate dissent through fear of arrest and detention’.
The US Congressional-Executive Commission, which advises the US Congress, issued a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last Thursday criticising the new laws and urging the US government to ‘take additional steps to protect American citizens and businesses’.
“An ever-expanding concept of national security will make Hong Kong less safe for US businesses and citizens living in Hong Kong, as well as for Hong Kongers seeking to exercise their fundamental freedoms,” the letter said.
China urges to stop ‘political manipulation’
The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Hong Kong office condemned the US for its criticism.
“Immediately stop political manipulation and interference in Hong Kong affairs,” it said in an earlier statement.
All 89 lawmakers, including the speaker, voted in favour of the bill.
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of China’s State Council said the law would ‘safeguard Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability’ and protect the interests of overseas investors, democracy and freedom, and ‘the human rights and basic welfare of all Hong Kong citizens’.
Hong Kong authorities have also said the law is not harsher than those in other countries, such as the US, UK and Singapore, and will ensure stability and prevent a repeat of the ‘instigated’ protests in 2019.
