Legislators in Hong Kong unanimously approve security law

Lawmakers in Hong Kong all agreed to a new law on Tuesday that gives the government more control to stop disagreement. Many people see this as part of a big crackdown on politics after protests for democracy in 2019.

Lawmakers approved a new law to protect national security during a special meeting. The new law will give the government more power to punish people for working with outside forces to do illegal things. It will also allow them to charge people with serious crimes like treason, rebellion, spying, and sharing government secrets.

This new law is on top of another law Beijing made last year. That law ended up silencing a lot of opposition in the financial hub. Critics are concerned that the new law will continue to take away the freedoms that Beijing said it would protect for 50 years after Hong Kong returned to China from British control in 1997.

Hong Kong’s lawmakers, who support China, quickly passed the law after changing the electoral rules. The law was introduced on March 8. A committee met every day for a week after Hong Kong leader John Lee asked them to speed up the process. After the vote, Lee said the law would start on Saturday.

“He said today is a very important day for Hong Kong. ”

The new law says that if someone does things the government thinks are dangerous to the country, they will get in big trouble. The worst things, like treason and trying to start a rebellion, can even mean being in jail for the rest of your life. Smaller crimes, like having forbidden books, could also result in spending a few years in prison. Some rules let people be punished for breaking the law no matter where they did it.

Andrew Leung, the head of the Legislative Council, said that he thinks all the lawmakers feel proud to be a part of this important task. Usually, council presidents don’t join in these votes. But this time, Leung voted to celebrate the event.

John Burns, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, said that the way things are done in the city show that the system for making sure people do their job is not working well because it was made to be not strong.

He said the politicians looked closely at the bill and the government made some changes that the lawmakers suggested. However, during the debate, Burns mentioned that many lawmakers were talking about making the state have more control over national security problems and making the punishments for related crimes harsher. He said that the leaders were happy to help them.

“Those who want the government to be responsible are disappointed by the changes made since 2020, but they are not surprised,” Burns explained.

Simon Young, a teacher at the University of Hong Kong’s law school, said that the government didn’t just approve the law quickly. He pointed out that officials had long meetings to discuss and change the bill. But Young said that in the past, lawmakers may have asked for advice from experts.

“I wish this had been done this time,” he said.

The Beijing office in Hong Kong said on Tuesday that the new law will help Hong Kong stay stable and successful. This will allow the city to concentrate on making the economy better and improving the lives of its people. Lee also mentioned that other countries have made rules to deal with dangers when necessary.

Hong Kong’s politics have changed a lot since the big protests in 2019. The protests were against China’s control over the territory and the new security law from Beijing.

A lot of important activists have been taken to court, and some have gone to live in other countries to be safe. Important media that supported democracy like Apple Daily and Stand News were closed down. The crackdown caused many unhappy young professionals and middle-class families to leave and move to the US, Britain, Canada, and Taiwan.

Hong Kong must make its own law to protect the country’s security, as stated in its Basic Law. In 2003, a law called Article 23 caused a big protest with 500,000 people, so the government had to stop the law. “Many people didn’t protest the bill because they were scared of the security law already in place. ”

The Chinese and Hong Kong governments say that the law imposed by Beijing helped to bring back peace and order after the protests in 2019.

Government leaders say the new law makes sure to protect both security and people’s rights and freedoms. The city government said it wants to stop more protests from happening, and that it will only affect a very small number of people.

The new law has strict punishments for people who are found guilty of putting their country’s safety in danger. This applies to situations where they are found to be collaborating with foreign governments or organizations, rather than acting alone. For instance, it goes after people who harm things like roads and buildings on purpose to put the country in danger. They could go to jail for 20 years, or even for their whole life, if they worked with outside forces. In 2019, people protested in Hong Kong’s airport and damaged train stations.

Business people and reporters are worried that this new law will make it harder for them to do their jobs every day.

Onlookers are paying attention to see if authorities will start enforcing rules on other job areas and how it will impact the freedom of Hong Kong people.

Many people didn’t like the bill right away.

The UN Human Rights leader, Volker Türk, criticized the fast approval of the bill as a step back for human rights in Hong Kong.

The UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, said that the wide-ranging definitions of national security and external interference will make it more difficult for people who live, work, and do business in Hong Kong. This will continue to take away their freedoms.

The US State Department said in a daily briefing that the law could speed up the closing of Hong Kong’s once open society and they are worried about how unclear the law is. Vedant Patel, a spokesperson, said that the department will study how the law could harm Americans.