National security law: one month after its adoption, how has Beijing’s sweeping new legislation changed Hong Kong?
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National security law: one month after its adoption, how has Beijing’s sweeping new legislation changed Hong Kong?
© SCMP Beijing’s national security law for Hong Kong came into effect the night of June 30. Photo: Sun Yeung
Hong Kong’s new national security law turns one month old on Saturday. Critics have said the Beijing-imposed legislation – which gives authorities sweeping powers to target acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – could fundamentally reshape the international financial hub, though the central and local governments have repeatedly pledged it would target only a minority of people. One month on, what are the changes triggered by the law?
© Provided by South China Morning Post A police officer in riot gear holds up a purple flag warning anti-government protesters they could be violating the national security law during a demonstration on July 1. Photo: Felix Wong
First arrests and a purple flag flies on July 1
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The law was passed on the evening of June 30. The next morning, thousands of protesters went ahead with the opposition’s annual July 1 march in defiance of a police ban. At the march, police unfurled, for the first time, purple flags warning protesters they could be arrested for violating the new law. By the end of the day, 10 had been detained for breaching the security legislation, along with 360 held for other offences. Most were accused of either displaying or possessing banners carrying messages deemed by the government to be pro-independence.
Only one suspect has been charged in court so far, a man accused of incitement of secession and terrorism, who allegedly rode his motorbike into a group of police officers. The motorcyclist mounted on his bike a flag with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong”, often seen at the anti-government protests of the past year. The message has been branded a call for independence by the Hong Kong government – illegal under the new law.
© Provided by South China Morning Post Former lawmaker Nathan Law addressed the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs via video conference. Photo: Handout
An activist departs and warns of a chilling effect on politics
Days after the law’s enactment, prominent activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung, a close colleague of Joshua Wong Chi-fung in the opposition group Demosisto, revealed he had left Hong Kong for Britain. Demosisto disbanded just hours before the law was adopted, along with a few other groups with pro-independence leanings.
Since Law’s arrival in Britain, he has, via video conference, taken part in a US congressional hearing to warn of the chilling effect of the law, while also meeting with several British shadow ministers and Hong Kong’s last colonial governor, Chris Patten. Last week, Law sat down for a private exchange with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a London visit. He told the top US envoy that Beijing would be tempted to disqualify opposition candidates from the coming Legislative Council elections. The prediction proved true little more than a week later, when 12 hopefuls, ranging from hardline activists to traditional pan-democrats, were disqualified on Thursday.
© Provided by South China Morning Post The Metropark Hotel in Causeway Bay became the temporary home of Beijing’s new Office for Safeguarding National Security. Photo: Winson Wong
Beijing’s national security office opens
The new law empowered Beijing to set up an Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong. That office was inaugurated in Causeway Bay on July 7, when mainland authorities turned the Metropark Hotel, a property run by state-owned HK CTS Hotels, into a temporary headquarters to house more than 200 staff members. Its role is to oversee local authorities’ enforcement of the new law, collect intelligence and take over exceptional national security cases. Its director, Zheng Yanxiong, said at an opening ceremony that the law was enacted “for the well-being of the people” and that his office would “defend national security firmly, without trampling on human rights”.
© Provided by South China Morning Post Hongkongers queue to vote in an unprecedented opposition primary election, which saw more than 600,000 people cast ballots. Photo: Edmond So
First-ever primary election draws fire
Just days later, despite fears surrounding the new law, the city’s opposition camp held its first-ever primary election on July 11 and 12. The plan was to whittle down their list of candidates in the hope of winning a historical majority in the Legco elections, slated for September. Some 610,000 voters took part in the unofficial vote.
But the move drew intense ire from Beijing. The cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office singled out activist legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting, one of the event’s co-organisers, accusing him of “illegally manipulating” the polling system, challenging the new security law and acting as a political agent for foreign forces.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned that the primary could amount to subversion if the polls’ end goal was to object to every policy initiative of the government. Tai, who was behind the Occupy protests in 2014, was dismissed on Wednesday by the University of Hong Kong’s governing council, which is composed largely of members seen as pro-establishment.
© Provided by South China Morning Post A group of social media giants have presented a united front in saying they will temporarily stop processing Hong Kong law enforcement requests for user data after the national security law kicked in. Photo: AFP
S ocial media giants push back, as a US newspaper hedges its bets
With the new law empowering police to order the removal of online messages and demand complete cooperation from social media platforms, Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Telegram and LinkedIn announced days after the implementation of the law that they would temporarily stop processing law enforcement requests for user data. The international version of popular short video app TikTok, which is owned by a mainland company, pulled out of Hong Kong’s Apple and Google app stores. Analysts have said internet companies with offices in Hong Kong might decide to relocate if they deemed the risk for employees to be too high. A lawyer has warned that even those without a base here could risk getting into trouble with the law.
In mid-July, The New York Times announced it would move a third of its Hong Kong-based staff to Seoul, becoming the first foreign media outlet to shift part of its operations out of the city following the passage of the new law, which requires the local government to “take necessary measures” to strengthen the management of international organisations, including non-governmental groups and news agencies. A rejected application for a work visa renewal for Chris Buckley, a veteran correspondent previously based in Beijing, was said to have been a factor in the move.
© Provided by South China Morning Post International reaction to the new security law was swift, with US President Donald Trump enacting the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. Photo: AP
International backlash
As of now, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong, with the US contemplating a similar move. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab spoke specifically of his concerns that the new law would allow British nationals to be transferred from Hong Kong to mainland China for trials. Australia and Britain have also unveiled plans to allow Hong Kong residents to move over, paving the way for citizenship.
Most dramatically, Britain last week revealed details of a possible path to citizenship for 2.9 million Hong Kong residents who hold a British National (Overseas) passport status. In retaliation, Beijing’s foreign ministry suspended Hong Kong’s extradition agreements with Canada, Australia and Britain. It has also threatened not to recognise the BN (O) passport.
Separately, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending Hong Kong’s preferential trade status, and enacted the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which requires sanctions against foreign individuals and banks seen as contributing to the erosion of the city’s autonomy.
© Provided by South China Morning Post In an interview, Exco convenor Bernard Chan predicted local officials will find it increasingly tough to bank with foreign institutions as tensions mount between China and the US over the new law. Photo: Nora Tam
Ripples hit home for Hong Kong’s officials
Amid the latest moves from the US, Bernard Chan, convenor of the Executive Council, the city leader’s de facto cabinet, revealed on Tuesday that his account at an unspecified US bank had been closed earlier this year. With the incident occurring before the law’s adoption, Chan said he believed it was due to his being classified as a “politically exposed person”. In an interview with the Financial Times, he did not rule out senior members of the city’s government finding it increasingly difficult to bank with foreign institutions as tensions mount between China and the US over the city’s future.
© Provided by South China Morning Post Tony Chung, former convener of the pro-independence group Studentlocalism, was one of four young people arrested on Wednesday. Photo: Dickson Lee
Pro-independence students arrested
On Wednesday, the new Hong Kong police unit set up to enforce the national security law took its first action against anti-government activists not directly related to street protests, arresting four people, aged 16 to 21, for suspected links to a newly established pro-independence group.
Tony Chung Hon-lam, one of the former convenors of Studentlocalism, was among those taken away. He and the other three arrested were released on bail on Friday. Chung’s pro-independence group had disbanded hours before the law took effect. A police source said the new group, the Initiative Independence Party, had promoted pro-independence political ideals including “using any means possible” to build a “Republic of Hong Kong”. The new group said it was founded by former Studentlocalism members, although it stressed all of them were based overseas.
© Provided by South China Morning Post Incumbent lawmakers Alvin Yeung (centre) and Dennis Kwok (right) found out on Thursday that they would not be allowed to run for re-election. Photo: Dickson Lee
Mass disqualifications from Legco polls
The new law also prompted many to speculate whether it would become another hoop for opposition contenders for the Legco elections to jump through. On Thursday, 12 candidates from the bloc had their applications invalidated by returning officers who cited the new law and previous pan-democrat calls for foreign governments to sanction Beijing and Hong Kong as key reasons.
Those banned included more hardline activists such as Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Ventus Lau Wing-hong, Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam and Alvin Cheng Kam-mun, as well as district councillors Cheng Tat-hung, Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai and Fergus Leung Fong-wai.
The Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok and Kwok Ka-ki, along with accountancy sector lawmaker Kenneth Leung – a group considered to be more moderate – were also not spared. The city has a history of invalidating election hopefuls and disqualifying lawmakers deemed to have crossed Beijing’s red line of sovereignty, but the move had never been used so broadly before.
On Friday, the government announced a postponement of the election for a year, citing the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. But the move was seen as a political one by the opposition, which described it as an attempt to usurp what was expected to be a major win for the camp.
Long arm of new legislation unfurls
On Friday, the Post learned Law was among six overseas-based suspects wanted by the Hong Kong police over breaching the national security law.
A police source said Law, former British consulate employee Simon Cheng Man-kit, activists Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Lau Hong – all based in Britain – as well as activist Wayne Chan Ka-kui and Hong Kong Democracy Council’s Samuel Chu, had been accused of inciting secession and collusion with foreign and external forces to endanger national security.
Chan and Chu were previously reported to be in Amsterdam and the US.
This is the first time Hong Kong police have invoked the extraterritorial provision under the sweeping law.
The source said police were going after the six for their actions after the enactment of the legislation, adding that it did not have a retroactive effect. They would be intercepted if they returned to the city.
On Facebook, Law wrote an emotional response, saying: “Our crime perhaps, is just that we love Hong Kong too much.”
Rebel City: Hong Kong’s Year of Water and Fire is a new book of essays that chronicles the political confrontation that has gripped the city since June 2019. Edited by the South China Morning Post’s Zuraidah Ibrahim and Jeffie Lam, the book draws on work from the Post’s newsrooms across Hong Kong, Beijing, Washington and Singapore, with unmatched insights into all sides of the conflict. Buy directly from SCMP today for HKD$198. Rebel City: Hong Kong’s Year of Water and Fire is also available at major bookshops worldwide and online through Amazon, Kobo, Google Books, and eBooks.com.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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