Hong Kong’s National Security Law has created a “human rights emergency,” Amnesty International said yesterday, a year after China imposed it on the territory to crush a democracy movement.
The legislation — which criminalizes anything authorities deem subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with up to life in prison — has radically transformed Hong Kong’s political and legal landscape.
“In one year, the National Security Law has put Hong Kong on a rapid path to becoming a police state and created a human rights emergency for the people living there,” Amnesty’s Asia-Pacific regional director Yamini Mishra said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Beijing said that the legislation was required to restore stability after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019, but promised that it would target only an “extreme minority.”
Since then, police and prosecutors have broadly applied the national security legislation, with a vast majority of the charges targeting political speech — which is widely considered a reneging on China’s assurances that Hong Kong would be allowed to maintain its key liberties and autonomy after its 1997 handover from the UK.
Amnesty released the report a week after democracy newspaper Apple Daily was forced to shut down following the arrests of its senior executives and lead editorial writer, and a freeze on its assets.
“From politics to culture, education to media, the law has infected every part of Hong Kong society and fomented a climate of fear that forces residents to think twice about what they say, what they tweet and how they live their lives,” Amnesty said in the report.
The human rights group said that it analyzed court judgements and hearing notes, and interviews with democracy advocates targeted under the legislation to show how it has been used to carry out “a wide range of human rights violations.”
“Ultimately, this sweeping and repressive legislation threatens to make the city a human rights wasteland increasingly resembling mainland China,” Amnesty said.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong authorities said that since the legislation was implemented, 117 people had been arrested for “committing acts and engaging in activities that endanger national security.”
Sixty-four people have been charged, including tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), prominent democracy advocates and former lawmakers.
Most defendants charged under the legislation have been denied bail due to a strict clause requiring them to persuade a court that they no longer pose a national security risk.
Last week, Hong Kong also began its first national security trial without a jury, a watershed moment for the territory with a 176-year-old common law system, where trial by jury has always been a defining feature.
The legislation has sparked concerns in some legal circles about whether judicial independence can be maintained, but Hong Kong authorities have said that the territory’s judges are committed to judicial independence and the judiciary remains “free from any interference.”
In a rare interview published by pro-Beijing magazine Eastweek yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the legislation’s imposition, Zheng Yanxiong (鄭雁雄), the head of Beijing’s national security office in the territory, said that Hong Kong’s independent judiciary “should highly manifest the nation’s will and interests.”
“It will be the biggest loophole in the rule of law if national security is not safeguarded,” he said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College