Opinion | Hong Kong national security law: a restoration of state power, and more

The new law rolls back some curbs on Hong Kong’s law enforcement enacted just before 1997 and allows central authorities to deal with cases that a local government cannot, or where there is a major national security threat

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National flags and symbols were displayed in numerous locations across the city in celebration of the enactment of the national security law on June 30. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 10:00am, 4 Jul 2020Updated: 7:47pm, 4 Jul 2020

Hong Kong’s national security law, enacted swiftly by Beijing officials and entered into force in Hong Kong on June 30, contains many groundbreaking provisions overriding local laws which sent “shock and awe” throughout the community.

Loyalists danced with joy. National flags and symbols were displayed in numerous locations across the city. Several key actors in the anti-government protests moved quickly to sever ties with Hong Kong independence while others fled the city.

Two legislators from the pan-democratic camp were arrested following their participation in mass protests on July 1. Others questioned the continued protection of individual rights and freedoms given the overriding power of many provisions of the national security law.

Western countries responded by expressing deep concern, threatening sanctions or offering routes to citizenship for Hong Kong people who wish to escape the “authoritarian clutches” of the Chinese government, now allegedly extended to Hong Kong via the new law.

There is actually much in the new law which is redolent of the past. For example, Article 12 mandates the establishment of a Committee for Safeguarding National Security, to be chaired by the chief executive and composed of top officials of the special administrative region.

Before 1997, the governor chaired the governor’s security committee, which included the colony’s top officials and the commander of the British forces in Hong Kong as members.

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