Hong Kong national security law: Legco exodus, loyalty oaths, liberal studies overhaul mark legislation’s fifth month

Now five months old, the sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in late June continues to send ripples across the city and abroad. The spat between Beijing and the West that accompanied the legislation’s adoption is far from over, with the United States continuing to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and various officials over their roles in its implementation. And it was national security grounds that were cited as Beijing unseated four opposition lawmakers in the past month, triggering their colleagues to resign en masse in protest. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, meanwhile, said she planned to step up national education in schools, while making it mandatory that civil servants pledge allegiance to the city, as required by the national security legislation. Here is a rundown of how the law has impacted Hong Kong in the past month: Disqualification of opposition lawmakers, mass resignations, fears of a chilling effect The biggest political bombshell of the month stemmed from the fresh red line drawn by a November 11 Beijing resolution that resulted in the disqualification of four opposition lawmakers: Kenneth Leung of the Professional Guilds, and the Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung Ngor-kiu, Kwok Ka-ki and Dennis Kwok. Kwok later announced his departure from politics after being singled out by Beijing for filibustering against the passage of the national anthem law earlier this year. In a show of defiance and solidarity, 15 other pro-democracy lawmakers resigned en masse, leaving the government largely without the camp’s scrutiny for the first time since the city’s handover from British to Chinese control in 1997. The resolution by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee states that any legislators found to have supported Hong Kong independence, refused to endorse Beijing’s resumption of sovereignty in the former British colony, or jeopardised national security will lose their seats. During her recent annual policy address, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said an amendment bill would be moved by the end of this year to enhance the oath-taking arrangement of public officers. Critics fear that the District Council, where the opposition camp pulled off an overwhelming triumph last year, will be targeted next. Civil servants to pledge allegiance As part of her politically-charged policy address, Lam also revealed that all civil servants would soon be required to sign a declaration to uphold the Basic Law, a requirement set out loosely in the national security legislation. Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen warned that refusing to do so could harm employees’ prospects for promotion. Those committing a serious breach of their oaths, he added, could be found in violation of the national security law. The move has been widely interpreted as a crackdown on dissent from civil servants who supported last year’s anti-government protests. Students to learn about national security law During her speech, Lam also revealed her Education Bureau would “cultivate primary and secondary students’ comprehensive understanding of the nation’s development, the constitution and the Basic Law, the implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ and the importance of national security”. In addition, she announced plans to reform the curriculum for liberal studies, a compulsory secondary school subject since 2009 which aims to impart critical thinking skills to students but has drawn pro-establishment camp accusations that it has brewed radicalism. Students will be required to learn about “the development of our nation, the constitution, the Basic Law [Hong Kong’s mini-constitution] and so forth,” she said of the reformulated subject. Her secretary for education subsequently revealed the class would no longer be called liberal studies. Beijing’s spat with Five Eyes deepens; Canada offers a lifeboat In the wake of the lawmaker disqualifications, foreign ministers from the Five Eyes alliance – the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand – put out a joint statement demanding Beijing reverse the decision, saying the move has breached China’s commitment to grant Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy and the right to freedom of speech, under the UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration. Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, defended the decision, saying it was “lawful, reasonable and unchallengeable”. Instead, he warned the five nations they risked “having their eyes poked out”. Earlier in the month, Canada unveiled a new immigration scheme that would make it easier for Hong Kong youths to study and work there, becoming the fourth place after Taiwan, Australia and Britain to do so in response to concerns over the national security law. Beijing official calls for Hong Kong judicial reform Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, delivered Beijing’s first-ever remarks calling for judicial reform in Hong Kong during a legal summit earlier this month. In a speech at the Basic Law 30th Anniversary Legal Summit on November 18, Zhang called for the “one country, two systems” governing formula to be implemented comprehensively and accurately, and for an upgrade to the city’s constitutional systems, to replace misconceptions with the correct principles, such as patriotism. He cited an opinion piece by retired Court of Final Appeal judge Henry Litton about Beijing’s mistrust of the city’s judiciary, and argued reform had nothing to do with judicial independence. The sweeping legislation imposed on June 30 requires the judiciary to “effectively prevent, suppress and impose punishment for any act or activity endangering national security”. National security hotlines at your service The Hong Kong Police Force’s new national security unit launched a multi-platform hotline on November 5, calling on members of the public to file information over any possible breaches of the Beijing-imposed law. Within hours of its launch, the hotline had received more than 1,000 pieces of information. By the end of the first week, that number had risen more than tenfold, with 14,000 pieces of intelligence collected. More arrests, prosecutions and searches On November 24, prosecutors made their third case under the national security law, charging 30-year-old Adam Ma Chun-man, the first Hongkonger taken to court for chanting pro-independence slogans in public. He was denied bail. Hong Kong university student leader arrested during early morning house raid Days earlier, online radio host Wan Yiu-sing, better known by his on-air moniker “Giggs”, was arrested for aiding secession and money laundering in connection with a fundraising scheme police said he was running to support young Hong Kong protesters who fled to Taiwan. Wan was apprehended along with his assistant, who is being probed for the same offences, on November 21. His wife was also picked up for money laundering. A day before their arrests, police descended on the Chinese University campus, one of the most intense battlegrounds during last year’s anti-government protests, to scour for evidence of any breaches of the national security law. The university called for their assistance after about 100 people, most wearing graduation gowns and masks, heeded online calls to stage a protest at the Sha Tin university earlier this month, during which some called for independence and chanted the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times”. The protest drew condemnation from Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong. More US sanctions On November 11, the United States government imposed yet more sanctions on individuals deemed to have jeopardised Hong Kong’s autonomy, adding four more to the existing list of 11 held responsible for implementing the national security law. From the city’s police force were Edwina Lau Chi-wai, who heads the new national security unit, and Senior Superintendent Steven Li Kwai-wah, part of Lau’s team. The other two were Li Jiangzhou, deputy director of the central government’s Office for Safeguarding National Security, and Deng Zhonghua, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin condemned the Trump administration move, warning it not to travel “too far on the wrong road”. Lam, the chief executive, was targeted in the first round in August. During a recent interview, she said she no longer has a bank account. “I have piles of cash at home because the government is paying me cash at home for my salary,” she told local English-language TV channel HKIBC.