Many people are still in shock and despair after the sudden announcement two weeks ago of a new national security law for Hong Kong , which would ban all seditious activities aimed at overthrowing the central government, put a stop to foreign interference in the city’s affairs, and target terrorist acts in Hong Kong. Despite reassurances by Beijing and Hong Kong’s government that the overwhelming majority of Hongkongers have nothing to fear, tear gas and violence are back on the streets and immigration consultants have recorded an increase in enquiries . If seditious acts refer to those that rebel or incite rebellion against a government with the aim of overthrowing it, then China is no stranger to such acts. Excluding the pre-imperial antiquarian period and ignoring the many secessionist regimes and non-Han Chinese states traditionally considered “illegitimate”, in the 2,131 years between the founding of the Qin dynasty, in 221BC, and the fall of the Qing dynasty, and with it the monarchical system of government, in 1912, there were 23 changes of ruling houses – almost once every century. Invasions by foreign peoples overthrew existing dynasties and established new ones several times, most notably the Mongols who founded the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and the Manchus, who ruled China as the Qing dynasty from 1644 to 1912. However, most dynastic changes in China were the result of what would be considered “sedition”. In some instances, high treason was committed against a sitting emperor by his own ministers or military commanders, who had gained so much power that the sovereign was little more than an inconsequential puppet. The last rulers of the Western Han (206BC-AD9), Eastern Han (AD25-220), Tang (AD619-907), and Later Zhou (AD951-960) dynasties, for example, were removed from their thrones by strongmen who had been subjects of the imperial house, and who went on to proclaim themselves emperors and founded new dynasties. Apart from palace coups, there were also regime changes effected “from below” in the form of armed revolts by ordinary people or soldiers. For example, the first and the last imperial dynasties, the Qin and the Qing, were overthrown amid great social upheavals triggered in part by the people’s loathing of their rulers. Since the Qin dynasty, all regime changes in China were accompanied by adjustment periods of varying lengths and intensities. Apart from reclaiming territories and neutralising residual opposition, a new regime had to convince the people, by force if necessary, that its seditious acts were justified and that it had inherited the “mandate of heaven” to rule the country. One could say the new rulers had to whitewash the stain of treason that brought them to power. Some regimes had a harder time doing this than others. In most cases, however, what had been considered seditious was eventually seen as inevitable, even necessary, to rescue and rejuvenate a state that had become corrupt, enfeebled and dysfunctional. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China replaced the Republic of China after the Communists defeated the ruling Nationalists. At the risk of sounding cynical, whether actions are seditious ultimately depends on the outcome, as encapsulated by the Chinese saying: “Those who succeed become kings; those who fail are bandits.”