China slaps sanctions on US
Beijing to vote on national security bill for HK on Tuesday
Ahead of the final voting procedure to enact the national security law for Hong Kong, China announced visa restrictions on US personnel on Monday – a sign that China rejects firmly foreign interference in the Hong Kong affairs.
Taking such concrete steps to accelerate the passage of the law while slashing US influence reflects China’s unshakable determination to safeguard its sovereignty and national security, and China’s will against US’ ambitions to make Hong Kong a strategic Western chess piece, observers said.
The Chinese government will impose visa restrictions on US personnel who have “behaved badly” on Hong Kongrelated issues, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a routine press conference on Monday.
The decision was announced following growing pressure from the US government on China over Hong Kong, as the US Senate recently passed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. The latest US act calls for mandatory sanctions against any person responsible for “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.”
The Chinese countermeasure also comes ahead of the voting by China’s top legislature body on the national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday.
“The US attempt to block China’s efforts to advance the national security legislation for Hong Kong through so-called sanctions is doomed to fail,” Zhao said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell and major sponsors of the Hong Kongrelated acts could be on the list of China’s visa countermeasures, according to Lü
Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.
The Hong Kong Autonomy Act was introduced by Chris Van Hollen, the Democratic senator from Maryland, and was co-sponsored by some major American hawks, who have long held a hostile attitude toward China, such as Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.
Also on the list could be some people from the US consulate general in Hong Kong, such as Julie Eadeh, its political unit chief, who frequently met with leaders of violent Hong Kong rioters like Joshua Wong and Martin Lee Chu-ming, said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University.
Some observers also noted that visa restrictions are just the beginning of the Chinese countermeasures to US sanctions, which would grow as long as the US imposes more sanctions. The scope of the visa restrictions would also include Hong Kong and Macao, Li said. Those who shelter and collude with the US personnel would likely be put on the sanctions list, observers said.
Ready to vote
The draft of the national security law for Hong Kong was submitted on Monday to the ongoing session of China’s top legislature body, with more details of the law expected to be released soon. The new law will mention and define the specific targeted criminal activities which threaten national security. The upcoming law is justified as its political and legal legitimacy can stand the historical test, observers said. And it won’t change the way people live in Hong Kong or deprive the legitimate rights they enjoy under “one country, two systems” and the Basic Law.
When it comes to penalties, some legal experts, echoing several Hong Kong deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) who suggested that those violating the law would face up to a 10-year jail term or longer, said any sentence would depend on the severity of the offense.
Two experts who took part in consultations for the law confirmed that the law would target only four types of crimes: acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities and collusion with foreign forces – while fully respecting the independent judiciary and law enforcement of the HKSAR and individual rights under the Basic Law.
After the law is enacted, most Hong Kongers shall continue to enjoy a number of freedoms, including freedom of speech, of assembly, of demonstration, and freedom to strike.
Though the upcoming law has not disclosed details on the four types of crimes, including the standards of conviction and relevant penalties, some Hong Kong media outlets, citing deputies and sources close to the matter, reported that the law won’t have any retroactive effect, unless the criminal act is of a continuing nature, as more extreme activists and opposition group leaders showed concern over whether cases related to the antiextradition bill movement since June 2019 would also be handled. Wong Kwan-yu, a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, was quoted as saying in a report by hk01.com on Sunday that it is reasonable to impose a life sentence.
Details to come out
“Any adjustment to the sentence would depend on the severity of the offense. The law should be a powerful deterrent, and the penalty should be balanced, as a felony can’t be given a mild sentence,” said Tian Feilong, a Hong Kong affairs and legal expert at Beihang University in Beijing.
The maximum sentence of the mainland’s national security law is death, which would be used only as a reference by the national security law for Hong Kong.
While some Western and local media outlets reported that the upcoming law would deter speech and critics, observers noted that the law won’t punish those who criticize the government, unless they’re subversive in nature.
The law will punish very few types of severe criminal acts, some legal experts said. However, slogans and claims calling for “Hong Kong independence” and hatred toward the nation would not be tolerated.
Other experts suggested that when the law takes effect, chanting pro-independence slogans or songs during the protests such as ‘liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times’ or ‘glory to Hong Kong’ or waving foreign flags to beg for help from other countries during protests would be considered acts of secessionism, and those acts would be punished.