HK police make first security law arrests
UK offers Hong Kongers immigration rights
HONG KONG: Police here arrested more than 300 people yesterday – including nine under China’s new national security law – as thousands defied a ban on protests on the anniversary of the city’s handover to China.
Police used water cannon, pepper spray and tear gas throughout in a series of confrontations with protesters, a day after China drew global criticism for imposing the controversial legislation on the financial hub.
Beijing said the law would restore stability after nearly a year of unrest, but instead it sparked the worst street violence in months.
Police said one officer was stabbed in the shoulder as he tried to make an arrest.
Under the new law, certain political views and symbols became illegal overnight – including showing support for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet independence.
Details released by police yesterday accused those arrested under the new legislation of possessing independence flags, stickers and flyers.
“Advocacy for independence of Hong Kong is against the law,” security minister John Lee told reporters.
Still, many of those protesting chanted independence slogans – itself now against the law.
“What this authoritarian regime wants to do is to terrorise the people and stop them from coming out,” protester Chris To, 49, told AFP.
Under a deal ahead of the 1997 handover from Britain, China guaranteed Hong Kong civil liberties as well as judicial and legislative autonomy until 2047 in a formula known as “One Country, Two Systems”.
British foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the law breached that agreement, a registered treaty.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said London had warned Beijing that it would introduce a new route for Hong Kongers with British National Overseas status to enter the UK, granting them the right to live and work in Britain and then to apply for citizenship.
“And that is precisely what we will do now,” Johnson said.
Britain’s new offer applies to an estimated three million Hong Kongers.
Washington’s top envoy vowed unspecified counter-measures.
“(China) promised 50 years of freedom to the Hong Kong people and gave them only 23,” secretary of state Mike Pompeo said.
Beijing said foreign countries should keep quiet about the law, while Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam hailed the legislation as the “most important development” since the city’s return to Beijing’s rule. – AFP