HONG KONG ‘FALLS TO CHINA’S NEW SECRET POLICE’
Shock as Beijing rushes into law crackdown on dissent and a €115k bounty is placed on the heads of pro-democracy campaigners
HONG Kong became a secret police state last night, critics said, as China passed a draconian law to crush dissent.
Hours after national security legislation was voted on in Beijing, it became law in Hong Kong, bypassing its council.
Just six weeks after the law was first proposed, it was enacted on the eve of today’s 23rd anniversary of the handover that saw Britain give Hong Kong back to China on the promise of 50 years of autonomy and the establishment of ‘one country, two systems’.
It was thought the law would be enforced in September, but China moved early to criminalise prodemocracy marches planned for today. The law makes secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison.
China will also set up a national security agency in the city, officials of which will not be bound by local law when carrying out duties. It will mean suspects can be passed to mainland China.
The authorities can also surveil and wire-tap anyone suspected of endangering national security.
In a threat to free speech, the ‘management’ of foreign NGOs and news agencies in the city will be also be ‘strengthened’.
All sentences will carry a minimum of ten years in jail.
The result of the changes saw pro-democracy campaigners rush to disband their organisations and delete their social media yesterday. Some went into hiding after a HK$1million (€115,000) bounty was offered for the first prosecutions. The move sparked a diplomatic firestorm, with the UK, EU and US criticising the measures.
UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: ‘China has chosen to break their promises to the people of Hong Kong and go against their obligations to the international community. (The) United Kingdom will not turn our backs on the commitments we have made to the people of Hong Kong.’
British prime minister Boris Johnson had vowed to give as many as 3million Hong Kong residents British citizenship if China brought in the measures.
Former city leader Leung Chunying took to Facebook to offer up to HK$1million for anyone who could help secure the first prosecutions or track down people who have recently fled the city. Jimmy Lai, 72, who owns anti-Beijing media group Next Digital, said: ‘If the law is retroactive, I will be in hell. Not just jail. This is definitely the death of Hong Kong.’ Activist Joshua Wong said: ‘The city will turn into a secret police state.’
Beijing said the legislation was necessary after anti-government and anti-Beijing protests which started in June last year plunged the city into a major crisis.
O Meanwhile, China has been accused of an ‘utter disregard for the sanctity of life’ over claims it is enforcing sterilisation on imprisoned minorities. The government’s draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighur Muslims, who have been rounded up in ‘re-education’ camps in the country’s west along with other minorities, are part of a campaign to curb its Muslim population in Xinjiang, a report found.
‘It’s slow, painful, creeping genocide,’ said Dr Joanne Smith Finley of the UK’s Newcastle University.
‘This is the death of Hong Kong’