Explainer | National security law: one month after its adoption, how has Beijing’s sweeping new legislation changed Hong Kong?
- Critics say the long arm of new legislation will have a chilling effect on politics in the city, as police release wanted list of suspects who have fled
- From arrests to a mass disqualification of Legco hopefuls and pushback from social media giants, the law has been felt across a broad swathe of society
One month on, what are the changes triggered by the law?
First arrests and a purple flag flies on July 1
By the end of the day, 10 had been detained for breaching the security legislation, along with 360 held for other offences. Most were accused of either displaying or possessing banners carrying messages deemed by the government to be pro-independence.
The motorcyclist mounted on his bike a flag with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong”, often seen at the anti-government protests of the past year. The message has been branded a call for independence by the Hong Kong government – illegal under the new law.
An activist departs and warns of a chilling effect on politics
Since Law’s arrival in Britain, he has, via video conference, taken part in a US congressional hearing to warn of the chilling effect of the law, while also meeting with several British shadow ministers and Hong Kong’s last colonial governor, Chris Patten.
Last week, Law sat down for a private exchange with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a London visit. He told the top US envoy that Beijing would be tempted to disqualify opposition candidates from the coming Legislative Council elections.
The prediction proved true little more than a week later, when 12 hopefuls, ranging from hardline activists to traditional pan-democrats, were disqualified on Thursday.
Beijing’s national security office opens
Its role is to oversee local authorities’ enforcement of the new law, collect intelligence and take over exceptional national security cases.
Its director, Zheng Yanxiong, said at an opening ceremony that the law was enacted “for the well-being of the people” and that his office would “defend national security firmly, without trampling on human rights”.
First-ever primary election draws fire
Just days later, despite fears surrounding the new law, the city’s opposition camp held its first-ever primary election on July 11 and 12. The plan was to whittle down their list of candidates in the hope of winning a historical majority in the Legco elections, slated for September. Some 610,000 voters took part in the unofficial vote.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned that the primary could amount to subversion if the polls’ end goal was to object to every policy initiative of the government. Tai, who was behind the Occupy protests in 2014, was dismissed on Wednesday by the University of Hong Kong’s governing council, which is composed largely of members seen as pro-establishment.
Social media giants push back, as a US newspaper hedges its bets
The international version of popular short video app TikTok, which is owned by a mainland company, pulled out of Hong Kong’s Apple and Google app stores.
Analysts have said internet companies with offices in Hong Kong might decide to relocate if they deemed the risk for employees to be too high. A lawyer has warned that even those without a base here could risk getting into trouble with the law.
A rejected application for a work visa renewal for Chris Buckley, a veteran correspondent previously based in Beijing, was said to have been a factor in the move.
International backlash
As of now, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong, with the US contemplating a similar move.
Germany announced on Friday it would follow suit. The country’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the Hong Kong government’s decision this week to disqualify a dozen opposition candidates for the elections and postpone the polls for the legislature was another infringement on the rights of residents.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab spoke specifically of his concerns that the new law would allow British nationals to be transferred from Hong Kong to mainland China for trials. Australia and Britain have also unveiled plans to allow Hong Kong residents to move over, paving the way for citizenship.
Ripples hit home for Hong Kong’s officials
Amid the latest moves from the US, Bernard Chan, convenor of the Executive Council, the city leader’s de facto cabinet, revealed on Tuesday that his account at an unspecified US bank had been closed earlier this year.
With the incident occurring before the law’s adoption, Chan said he believed it was due to his being classified as a “politically exposed person”.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he did not rule out senior members of the city’s government finding it increasingly difficult to bank with foreign institutions as tensions mount between China and the US over the city’s future.
Pro-independence students arrested
Tony Chung Hon-lam, one of the former convenors of Studentlocalism, was among those taken away. He and the other three arrested were released on bail on Friday.
Chung’s pro-independence group had disbanded hours before the law took effect. A police source said the new group, the Initiative Independence Party, had promoted pro-independence political ideals including “using any means possible” to build a “Republic of Hong Kong”.
The new group said it was founded by former Studentlocalism members, although it stressed all of them were based overseas.
Mass disqualifications from Legco polls
Those banned included more hardline activists such as Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Ventus Lau Wing-hong, Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam and Alvin Cheng Kam-mun, as well as district councillors Cheng Tat-hung, Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai and Fergus Leung Fong-wai.
The Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok and Kwok Ka-ki, along with accountancy sector lawmaker Kenneth Leung – a group considered to be more moderate – were also not spared. The city has a history of invalidating election hopefuls and disqualifying lawmakers deemed to have crossed Beijing’s red line of sovereignty, but the move had never been used so broadly before.
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Hong Kong Legislative Council elections postponed by a year
Long arm of new legislation unfurls
On Friday, the Post learned Law was among six overseas-based suspects wanted by the Hong Kong police over breaching the national security law.
A police source said Law, former British consulate employee Simon Cheng Man-kit, activists Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Lau Hong – all based in Britain – as well as activist Wayne Chan Ka-kui and Hong Kong Democracy Council’s Samuel Chu, had been accused of inciting secession and collusion with foreign and external forces to endanger national security.
Chan and Chu were previously reported to be in Amsterdam and the US.
This is the first time Hong Kong police have invoked the extraterritorial provision under the sweeping law.
The source said police were going after the six for their actions after the enactment of the legislation, adding that it did not have a retroactive effect. They would be intercepted if they returned to the city.
On Facebook, Law wrote an emotional response, saying: “Our crime perhaps, is just that we love Hong Kong too much.”