Western experts worried
The national security law is touted by Beijing as a tool to restore order to Hong Kong after mass protests last year that were mostly peaceful, but sometimes erupted into violence or brought the city to a standstill. Critics see it as a means to crack down on the enclave’s freedoms, which are often used to lambaste the Chinese government. It prohibits not only “terrorism,” but subverting the Chinese state, espousing Hong Kong separatism and lobbying foreign governments.
The offences are defined only vaguely, the penalties are as stiff as life in prison.
And Article 38 says the law applies to offences perpetrated “outside the (Hong Kong special administrative region) by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region.”
It’s unclear exactly how Beijing will interpret the section, but Western experts are worried.
“I know of no reason not to think it means what it appears to say: (Beijing) is asserting extraterritorial jurisdiction over every person on the planet,” said a blog post by Donald Clarke, a George Washington University professor specializing in Chinese law. “If you’ve ever said anything that might offend the PRC or Hong Kong authorities, stay out of Hong Kong. ”
Margaret Lewis, a law professor and China expert at New Jersey’s Seton Hall University, noted the threat posed by the national security legislation is greatest for actual residents of Hong Kong, and said it remains to be seen how Article 38 will be interpreted. But it seems like a weapon to limit overseas criticism.
“We could see quite quickly the law invoked to have a clear general deterrence effect and to send a warning,” said Lewis. “(Or) we could also see a slow burn and this law just sits on the books and kind of hovers as a dark cloud over people.”
Regardless, she said, “It’s no longer a no-brainer to hop on a plane to Hong Kong.”
Wong argues the threat of Article 38 could extend further. An experience in January makes her worry about Chinese security forces actually kidnapping outspoken critics like her and hauling them back to Hong Kong.
She had just held a news conference launching her alliance and was staying in a Vancouver hotel under someone else’s name as a security precaution. Someone speaking on the phone in heavily accented English still managed to track her down, telling her he was on his way to her hotel room, though he never did come, said Wong.
“If we are kidnapped and we are brought back to Hong Kong, will the Canadian government be able to protect us? I don’t think so.”
Cheuk Kwan, Toronto-based head of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said he would worry about travelling to a country that is friendly with China and has an extradition treaty with it, or even a shared border.
He cited Huseyn Celil, the Canadian advocate of rights for China’s Uyghur minority, who was arrested while visiting his wife’s relatives in Uzbekistan in 2006 and handed over to Chinese authorities.