Explainer | Decluttering the noise around the national security law: a day before legislation is passed in Hong Kong, are we any clearer about it?
- Details remain murky with draft of new legislation not expected to be revealed before law is passed
- Concerns range from length of sentencing to what are the actual criminal elements under offences listed
As Beijing’s national security law for Hong Kong edges closer to being passed, new details have emerged daily, at times overturning previous speculation.
In less than a week, the penalty for violation, initially believed to be 10 years, is now expected to be life imprisonment, according to the latest revelation on Saturday by a pro-Beijing heavyweight now in the capital as part of a three-day legislative session.
With just a day to the law being passed by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), here’s what we know:
A decade or life behind bars?
On June 20, state media Xinhua published an explanatory statement, spelling out the framework under which the law – which aims to target acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference that endanger national security – will operate.
While the note detailed how new bodies would be set up either by mainland or local authorities in Hong Kong, and spoke of city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s new power to appoint judges, it did not shed light on specific criminal elements for the four offences, nor mention how those found guilty would be punished.