Xi tightens his grip on Hong Kong

In the “latest step in a sweeping political crackdown” following pro-democracy protests in 2019,

Hong Kong’s parliament has passed a “controversial national security law granting the government more power to quash dissent”, says Helen Davidson in The Guardian. The law, known as Article 23, makes “treason, insurrection and sabotage” crimes that come with life sentences, and raises the jail term for “sedition” from two years to up to ten in the case of collusion with a “foreign force”.

The allowable periods of detention without charge will also be extended from 48 hours to two weeks. Critics argue that the law will “further erode the city’s rights and freedoms” and usher in a “new era of authoritarianism”. The ease with which the measure passed is “indicative of just how much has changed in Hong Kong” in recent years, says The Economist. Attempts to bring in similar legislation two decades ago “sparked massive protests”; the “atmosphere of fear” generated since then means there was no major public protest, or even opposition, to the measures this time round.

The law reflects the efforts of Xi Jinping (pictured) to pull the “once freewheeling city” away from the West and impose a topdown political culture, say David Pierson and Tiffany May in The New York Times. It comes at a time when Hong Kong is grappling with deep problems – stocks are in the doldrums, property values tumbling and emigration fuelling a “brain drain”. The new law “could deter even more foreign businesses, already a shrinking presence, from investing”. Many are now talking of Hong Kong suffering a “death by a thousand cuts”.