China tightens grip on Hong Kong
BEIJING (AFP) — China moved yesterday to quash Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement by unveiling plans for a new security law at the start of its annual parliamentary session that also laid bare the “immense” economic challenges caused by the coronavirus.
The 3,000-member National People’s Congress (NPC) began with a minute of silence for China’s victims of the coronavirus before Premier Li Keqiang delivered his annual version of the US president’s “state of the union” address.
“At present, the epidemic has not yet come to an end, while the tasks we face in promoting development are immense,” Li told mask-wearing delegates in Beijing’s cavernous Great Hall of the People, while also touting China’s success in suppressing the contagion.
The most controversial move at the NPC opening was the introduction of a proposal to impose a security law in Hong Kong — immediately denounced by the US and pro-democracy figures in the financial hub who called it a death sentence for the territory’s unique freedoms.
The draft proposal, to be debated by Beijing’s top leaders, will “guard against, stop and punish any separatism, subversion of the national regime, terrorist group activities and such behaviours that seriously harm national security.”
It would authorize Chinese lawmakers to directly enact longdelayed Hong Kong security legislation itself at a future date, rather than leaving it up to the territory’s administration.
China made clear it wanted the legislation passed after Hong Kong was rocked by seven months of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests last year.
An initial bid to enact such legislation in 2003 was shelved after half a million people took to the streets in protest.
Wang Chen, deputy chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, told delegates Beijing must “take powerful measures to lawfully prevent, stop and punish” antiChina forces in Hong Kong.
One of the proposal’s articles opens the door for Beijing to increase its presence in the financial hub by allowing the central government to set up, “when needed,” agencies in Hong Kong “to fulfill relevant duties to safeguard national security in accordance with the law.”