Hong Kong police fire pepper spray at protesters as they make hundreds o... / Chinese parliament to vote on Hong Kong security law as US condemnation builds

Chinese parliament to vote on Hong Kong security law as US condemnation builds

Move would pave the way for anti-sedition laws, which human rights advocates say will threaten the city’s freedoms

Lily Kuo in Beijing

Published onThu 28 May 2020 04.59 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/28/china-vote-npc-national-security-laws-hong-kong-us-protest

China’s legislature was set to approve plans to force a controversial national security law on Hong Kong, as the US prepared to retaliate against Beijing for stripping the territory of its promised freedoms.

On Thursday, China’s National People’s Congress was preparing to vote on a draft decision that would pave the way for anti-sedition laws to be directly enacted in Hong Kong, bypassing the semi-autonomous territory’s legislature. The Legislative Council (LegCo) has been unable to pass similar legislation on its own because of widespread public opposition.

Once the vote in Beijing has been passed, a detailed law will be drafted and could be enacted in a matter of weeks, according to Chinese state media.

The move by China has prompted widespread concern inside and outside Hong Kong about Beijing’s plans for the semi-autonomous territory.

The vote comes after at least 360 people were arrested in Hong Kong on Wednesday, as police fired pepper spray and detained suspected protesters in a series of skirmishes that broke out across the city. Demonstrators were protesting against a bill to criminalise disrespect of the Chinese national anthem and the looming national security laws.

Following the protests, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said his country would revoke Hong Kong’s special trade status as separate from China.

“While the United States once hoped that free and prosperous Hong Kong would provide a model for authoritarian China, it is now clear that China is modelling Hong Kong after itself,” he said.

The move, part of legislation passed by the US last year to pressure Beijing into protecting Hong Kong’s autonomy, promises to further destabilise already deteriorated relations between the US and China.

Before Pompeo’s statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said his government will adopt “necessary countermeasures” to deal with “mistaken” attempts at foreign interference by other countries.

On Thursday Hu Xijin, editor of nationalistic state-run tabloid the Global Times, said on Twitter that it was not up to the US to decide if Hong Kong was autonomous. He wrote in a longer post on Weibo: “American politicians like Pompeo presume that the fate of Hong Kong lies in their hands.”

“If Washington wants to play this card, let them play it… Hong Kong is a major international finance hub because of its special relationship to the mainland’s massive economy. This is more important than the attitude of the US.”

Legal observers and human rights advocates say the national security laws will threaten the city’s freedoms and rights as promised under the “one country two systems” framework. The unprecedented move by Beijing also represents a worrying escalation of Beijing interfering in Hong Kong affairs and violates the territory’s de-facto constitution the Basic Law, according to legal experts.

“The Chinese communist party is painting a picture to make it seem like it is abiding by the Basic law, but it is not. They’re imposing a draconian law which can be used to silence dissent in Hong Kong and infringe on freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kongers,” said Frances Eve of Chinese Human Rights Defenders.