Beijing has released details of a controversial anti-sedition law under which China will set up a national security agency in Hong Kong and maintain jurisdiction in “certain circumstances”.
A partial draft of the legislation, widely seen as a blow to the city’s autonomy, was released on Saturday, paving the way for the central government to ram the law through despite opposition within Hong Kong and international condemnation.
According to a summary of the draft published by state news agency Xinhua, Hong Kong will establish a committee to be headed by the chief executive and subject to oversight by the central government in China. Separately, Beijing will set up a national security agency overseen by the central government to guide implementation of the law, as well as “collect and analyse national security intelligence”.
Critics say the law – meant to target separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – will be used against people who criticise the government and will fundamentally undermine free speech in Hong Kong. Under the “one country, two systems” framework, Hong Kong residents enjoy freedoms such as the right to free speech and assembly, civil liberties not seen on the mainland.
The summary released on Saturday did not explain what activities would warrant those charges but detailed the ways that Beijing would ultimately oversee the law’s implementation. According to the summary, the law would stipulate that when discrepancies arise between Hong Kong law and the national security legislation, the national security law should take precedent. China’s National People’s Congress also reserves the power to interpret the law.
According to the draft, Hong Kong’s courts will have jurisdiction except in “certain circumstances”, where the national security agency overseen by Beijing, as well as other mainland state security organs, would oversee a “very small number” of cases.
Critics say the legislation will in effect end the “one country, two systems” framework under which Hong Kong’s judiciary operates independently. Hong Kong’s chief executive, who ultimately answers to Beijing, will appoint judges – either former or current magistrates – to prosecute national security cases.
The bill also calls for Hong Kong’s department of justice as well as the much maligned police, a major target of the last year of protests, to set up a special unit for national security, according to Xinhua.
The draft was released at the close of a meeting by the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, which is charged with writing the legislation. The law is expected to be passed within the next few months before legislative council elections in Hong Kong in September.
Pro-democracy activists reacted with dismay to the details of the draft. Jimmy Lai, media mogul and activist, said: “The national security bureau will be the sword of Damocles over our heads, as well as those of the tycoons, politicians, and officials. If you look at how [the law will] work in the mainland, it’s enforcement is simply arbitrary.”
Joshua Wong, an activist and former protest leader, said: “I call upon the world to stand with Hong Kong and urge China to withdraw this evil law.”
Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, pledged her support of the bill by promising that her government would “ensure the effective implementation of the relevant law in Hong Kong”.
Lam defended criticism of the bill, adding that the draft had gone through “multiple reviews under the spirit of absorbing opinions as much as possible”. She said: “These clear provisions should be able to allay public concerns.”
Yet legal experts said that it was notable that the full draft of the law, 66 articles in total, had not been released and that key questions were not addressed, including whether those charged with national security crimes would be extradited to mainland China to be tried in the country’s politicised courts.
“How are the national security law crimes being defined? By what criteria will the chief executive select judges and why is this special system necessary?” Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese law at New York University, wrote in a blog post. “These signs… suggest continuing uncertainty and disagreement in the leadership about how to handle the many delicate and difficult issues involved.”
Beijing has defended the law, saying it is necessary to stamp out anti-government protests, which were started by another controversial bill that would see wanted suspects to be sent to mainland China. Chinese officials have promised the law will only target a “narrow set” of behaviours and affect a minority of Hong Kong residents.
According to the draft, the law would require Hong Kong to protect “freedom of speech, press and publication” as well as “freedom of association, assembly, demonstration, and protest”.
But investors and businesses as well as legal observers and human rights advocates say the legislation will end the freedoms that have enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a international financial hub.
“The very provisions in the draft national security law would appear to violate those protections. The Handover has clearly become the Takeover,” Cohen wrote.
