China Briefing | Hong Kong national security law: all eyes on the US, but Beijing holds all the cards

Name: How China is drafting a new Hong Kong national security law at the National People’s Congress
Uploaded: 2020-05-30T01:30:12.000Z
Duration: 2 min 17 s
Description: How China is drafting a new Hong Kong national security law at the National People’s Congress

Beijing’s timing shows it is prepared for a backlash and for Hong Kong to lose its shine as a financial centre; better that than let the city slip out of its control

However, reports of Hong Kong’s demise are premature. The effect of any US sanctions is likely to be more symbolic than material

Reading Time:5 minutes

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Hong Kong protesters wave the American flag during a demonstration on January 1 in Central. Photo: Kyodo

Wang Xiangwei

Published: 9:30am, 30 May 2020Updated: 9:30am, 30 May 2020

China’s decision to impose the national security law directly on Hong Kong, passed by the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Thursday, has once again plunged the city into deep turmoil and sparked a renewed backlash from the international community.

The timing of the move may appear sudden but it is not entirely unexpected. It has been in the works for months after the anti-Beijing and anti-government protests which started in June threw the city into chaos for the latter half of last year. More than anything, these protests heightened fears among Chinese leaders that Beijing was losing control over the once-freewheeling city, 23 years after it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

China’s introduction of the new law will exacerbate tense relations with Washington, which said on Wednesday that Hong Kong no longer “maintains a high degree of autonomy from China”, paving the way for US measures to punish both Hong Kong and mainland China. But Beijing is very unlikely to budge under the pressure, not least because Washington and Beijing have been going mano a mano in the Chinese territory in a battle for influence for years and Beijing now wants to show who the boss is.

The law has prompted many people to lament what they see as the end of Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, guaranteed in the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, and under the formula “one country, two systems”, which was supposed to last until 2047.

But it is still too early to predict the demise of Hong Kong or what Hong Kong will become. Full details of the law and how it will be implemented have not been released. Reports have indicated that the NPC’s standing committee is expected to flesh out the law with detailed implementation measures within the next one or two months.

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How China is drafting a new Hong Kong national security law at the National People’s Congress

In response, Chinese officials and state media have argued that Hong Kong is constitutionally obliged to enact the national security law to ban “secession, subversion, infiltration, and sabotage activities” against the Chinese government, as well as interference in Hong Kong’s internal affairs by foreign forces. As Hong Kong itself has failed to legislate the law since 2003 when a similar law was shelved because of strong popular opposition, Beijing has finally decided to step in, signalling the end of its patience after nearly 20 years of waiting.