Hong Kong police arrested 300 people since national security law enactment 4 years ago
- Police data also shows rise in major crimes this year, including deception, theft, blackmail and burglary
Hong Kong police have arrested 300 people since the national security law’s enactment four years ago, with about 60 per cent of them charged.
Statistics released by police on Saturday also showed the number of deception cases rose 6.2 per cent in the first half of the year against the same period in 2023, with the 19,897 cases accounting for more than 40 per cent of crimes.
“A number of major crimes recorded decreases, while most of the increases in other crimes were within a few percentage points. The increase in deception cases has slowed down compared with the past few years,” the force said.
“The overall law and order situation was stable.”
Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 to prevent, stop and punish secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and foreign interference, after months-long anti-government protests rocked the city.
As of June 30 this year, 300 people have been arrested under the law, up from 291 as of March 8, according to data. About 60 per cent have been charged.
Hong Kong also passed the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, mandated under Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law mini-constitution, in March this year as the domestic counterpart of the Beijing-imposed legislation.