Hong Kong is fast-tracking new security legislation that would impose life sentences for crimes such as treason and give police expanded powers amid increased pressure from Chinese leaders to get the process wrapped up quickly.
The 212-page bill was published by the government and debated in hastily arranged sessions in the territory’s legislature on Friday. The government sped up the process after senior Chinese officials attending the National People’s Congress (NPC) urged the law’s passing, with Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) returning early from Beijing to the territory.
It was the first time a draft law was published and debated in the Hong Kong Legislative Council on the same day since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, according to a review of lawmaking records.
Photo: AFP
The hearings were to continue yesterday.
Approval of the legislation is not in doubt after authorities previously took steps to ensure that only “patriots” could stand for elections. The new law would provide authorities with wide-ranging tools to minimize dissent in the territory, following Beijing’s imposition of Hong Kong’s National Security Law in 2020 in the wake of pro-democracy protests.
The speed at which Hong Kong is moving to enact the law is to show to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that the territory is “compliant” with his focus on national security during the NPC, said Chong Ja Ian (莊嘉穎), an associate political science professor at National University of Singapore.
The proposed definition of state secrets would bring Hong Kong more in line with mainland China’s vague laws around such information and espionage, which have spooked investors over the past year. Disclosure of state secrets carries a potential 10-year jail sentence. A clause has been added allowing the disclosure of state secrets in limited circumstances if it is in the public interest.
However, several pro-government politicians have raised questions over the ambiguous wording of the hastily introduced bill, a US political risk consultancy group said.
Lawmakers such as Lai Tung-Kwok (黎棟國), Chan Siu-hung (陳紹雄) and Regina Ip (葉劉淑儀) have expressed concern about overly broad concepts in the bill, a note by New York-headquartered Eurasia Group said, citing local reports.
The criticisms might lead to the bill being amended to add clarity to overly broad concepts such as “external forces,” which categorizes a company as an external force if its directors are “accustomed to acting in accordance with the directions or wishes of a foreign government authority.”
Without further clarity, the definition could potentially extend to any multinational organization with at least one foreigner in its leadership.
The new law would create concern about where the red line is, said Patrick Poon (潘嘉偉), visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo, who monitors human rights in Hong Kong.
“The vague definitions will have a chilling effect and lead to even more self-censorship in the media and the civil society,” Poon said.
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