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Analysing Hong Kong’s national security law

News

Hong Kong

Politics

Phila Siu

Beijing has approved a national security law for Hong Kong, but what will it mean and what are the concerns?

The law is intended to ‘prevent, stop and punish’ acts and activities in Hong Kong that threaten to split the country. Photo: Winson Wong

Crowds raise their candles at the June 4th Candle Light Vigil, marking the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. 04JUN19 SCMP / Dickson Lee

July 1st march from Victoria Park to Central Government Offices, Central, in protest against the Article 23. People assemble in Victoria Park this afternoon in the shadow of the Hong Kong SAR flag. 01 July 2003

(L-R) Tycoon Li Ka-shing with his son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, Chairman of CK Asset Holdings Ltd, at the companies annual dinner, Wan Chai. 10JAN20 SCMP / Dickson Lee

Anti-government protesters with umbrellas to occupy at Nathan Road, Mongkok. 27MAY20 SCMP / Edmond So

Lawmaker Tanya Chan Suk-chong addresses the press at the Legislative Council Complex, Tamar. 14APR20 SCMP / Dickson Lee

epa08449049 Delegates applaud as the result of a vote on the draft resolution for the controversial national security law for Hong Kong is displayed on a screen during the closing ceremony of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 28 May 2020. The NPC runs parallel to the annual plenary meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); they are together known as 'Lianghui' ('Two Meetings'). This year, both major political events â which were initially scheduled to be held in March â were postponed due to the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.  EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY

Gary Cheung

Chris Lau

What safeguards are needed for Hong Kong’s new national security law? Who could get caught by it? Legal eagles flag concerns

Illustration: Henry Wong

Activist Lee Cheuk-yan (centre) holds up May 1st, in light of the cancelled annual Labour day march, Mong Kok. 01MAY20 SCMP / Sam Tsang

Legal scholar Johannes Chan Man-mun attends a forum on the extradition bill, organised by the University of Hong Kong (HKU), Pok Fu Lam. 11JUN19 SCMP / Felix Wong

PLA soldiers demonstrates their skills and technique during The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Ngong Shuen Chau Naval Base open day at Ngong Shuen Chau in Stonecutters Island. 01JUL18 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Riot police fire tear gas near Sogo department store in Causeway Bay as protesters march between Causeway Bay and Wanchai to protest against the government's proposed enactment of national security law. 24MAY20 SCMP/ Sam Tsang

HKU (University of Hong Kong) legal academic Albert Chen Hung-yee attends a radio programme on extradition bill at the RTHK Radio Station in Kowloon Tong. 03JUN19 SCMP / May Tse

Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Deputy director of Hong Kong Basic Law Committee, attends an RTHK radio program that talks about national security law at RTHK HQ in Kowloon Tong. 28MAY20 SCMP/ May Tse

A figure, in the shape of a hand with the colours of the China national flag for fingernails and a '23' on its palm with reference to the controversial Article 23 law, is carried by protesters at a National Day rally in Hong Kong on October 1, 2018. - Thousands marched in Hong Kong on October 1 against suppression by Beijing as fears grow that freedoms in the semi-autonomous city are seriously under threat. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)

Professor Fu Hualing, Dean of HKU’s Faculty of Law, at the University of Hong Kong in Pok Fu Lam. 20MAY20 SCMP / May Tse

epa08363689 A statue of Lady Justice sits on top of the Court of Final Appeal in Central district, Hong Kong, China, 15 April 2020. According to media reports, three of the most senior judges of the Special Administrative Region said that the independence of Hong Kong's judicial system is 'under assault' from the Chinese Communist Party and claimed there are signs Beijing is trying to limit the authority of Hong Kong courts to rule on core constitutional matters. EPA-EFE/JEROME FAVRE

Natalie Wong

British-era Special Branch offers a hint of how local and mainland Chinese agents could help enforce Hong Kong’s new security law

Lawmaker James To Kun-sun meets the media after the third meeting of the Legislative Council's bills committee [Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019], at the Legislative Council Complex in Tamar. James To, who was elected as chairman of the committee in the meeting, and other fellow lawmakers from his camp and medical sector pressed ahead with the third meeting, though pro-establishment lawmakers have postponed the meeting. 06MAY19 SCMP / Dickson Lee

Left-wing workers stage a rally in Des Voeux Road Central. 20MAY67

Maria Tam Wai-chu talks to Hong Kong press after she attending the NPC Standing Committee conference in Beijing on Feb. 26, 2019. 26FEB19 SCMP / Simon Song

Riot police are deployed near Sogo department store in Causeway Bay as protesters march between Causeway Bay and Wanchai to protest against the government's proposed enactment of national security law. 24MAY20 SCMP/ Sam Tsang

FILE PHOTO: Hong Kong skyline is pictured from Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, China January 2, 2020. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo

Interview with Leung Chun-ying, Former Hong Kong Chief Executive, Vice Chairman, National Committee, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chairman, Belt & Road Hong Kong Centre, at the 4th Aviation Silk Road International Conference at the Asia World Expo in Chek Lap Kok. 02APR19 SCMP / Winson Wong

Riot police fire tear gas shells to disperse mobs in Central. 21MAY67

Chinese leaders endorsed a resolution at their annual parliamentary meeting - the “two sessions” - to tailor-make a national security law for Hong Kong. This series examines the move and some of the questions it has sparked.


Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

Series