China passes controversial national security law for Hong Kong

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Hong Kong incidents leave dozens detained 0:42

Hong Kong (CNN) - China's legislature passed a proposal to impose a highly controversial national security law in Hong Kong, an unprecedented move that critics say threatens fundamental political freedoms and civil liberties in Chinese semi-autonomous territory. .

The country's official Parliament - the National People's Congress (APN) - almost unanimously approved the resolution, this Thursday, to introduce comprehensive security legislation, which prohibits secession, subversion of state power, terrorism, foreign intervention and allows the mainland Chinese state security agencies to operate in the city.

Only one delegate voted against the proposal, while 2,878 voted in favor and six abstained.

Now approved, the NPC Standing Committee will draft the law, a process that is expected to take around two months. It will then be implemented after the Hong Kong Government's enactment, bypassing the city's legislature through a rarely enacted constitutional gate.

The law will dramatically expand Beijing's power over Hong Kong, which was hit last year by anti-government protests for more democracy and more autonomy from mainland China.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping votes on a proposal to draft a security law on Hong Kong during the closing session of the National People's Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 28, 2020. ( NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP via Getty Images)

Last week, news of the proposal met immediate resistance in the city, with protesters taking to the streets and clashing with police. Passage of the law is expected to result in more mass protests, with protest leaders vowing to oppose further influence from the Chinese government at any cost.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said Thursday after parliamentary meetings that the law was designed for the "constant implementation of 'one country, two systems'", a formula that guarantees Hong Kong its autonomy and freedoms, and for "the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong."

But that has failed to reassure critics. The measure has been denounced internationally, and opponents warn that it could reduce many of the legal guarantees promised to the city when it was handed over to the Chinese in 1997 by the British government.

Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy legislator, said the decision marks "the beginning of a sad and traumatic era for Hong Kong."

“They have practically taken away our soul. Our soul that we have been treasuring all these years, the rule of law, human rights; They are taking away all the fundamental values ​​that we have come to know, "he said.

"From now on, Hong Kong is just another city in mainland China."

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The special situation

After protests in the city on Wednesday, in which around 300 people were arrested, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that his country would no longer consider China's global financial center as autonomous for commercial purposes. and economic.

In a statement, Pompeo denounced the law as a "disastrous decision" and "the latest in a series of actions that fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms."

"No reasonable person today can claim that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given the facts on the ground," Pompeo said.

Under the Hong Kong Democracy and Human Rights Act, passed last year in support of pro-democracy protests on the ground, the United States government must verify annually with Congress that the city remains autonomous from China, or risk losing its special status with the United States.

Hong Kong's special economic and trade status with the United States exempts it from Washington's import duties and export controls on mainland China.

It is not immediately clear what repercussions the Pompeo announcement will bring. Hong Kong has long served as a regional hub for many international companies, as well as a springboard for Chinese companies to expand internationally.

Police stand guard on a highway to deter pro-democracy protesters from blocking the roads in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district on May 27, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP via Getty Images)

The United States Consulate General in Hong Kong says it represents more than 1,200 American companies that do business there; more than 800 are regional offices or headquarters.

An adviser to Congress told CNN that the certification does not automatically trigger action and that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, will determine the next steps.

David Stilwell, the top US diplomat in the Office for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said officials were looking for options "across the spectrum," including visas or economic sanctions.

US experts say the consequences could be much broader, such as ending the extradition treaty between the United States and Hong Kong.

Enrage Beijing

The US announcement is likely to enrage Beijing and further affect relations between the two sides, following disputes over the coronavirus pandemic and a protracted trade war.

The Chinese government has yet to respond to Pompeo's statement, which was released after midnight Beijing time. But the country's Foreign Ministry previously promised to respond to any "outside intervention."

"Hong Kong's national security defense legislation is purely an internal matter of China that does not allow foreign interference," ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday when asked about a possible strong response. from Washington to the law.

"In response to the erroneous practices of external intervention, we will take the necessary countermeasures," said Zhao.

The editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a government-controlled nationalist tabloid, lashed out at Washington on Thursday and accused him of being "too narcissistic" in thinking it could "capture Hong Kong's fate in his hands."

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"The only letter in American hands is Hong Kong's special tariff status, and the Chinese have studied it thoroughly. If Washington wants to play this card, let him play it ... Hong Kong is the source of America's largest trade surplus, with 85,000 US citizens living there. Let's see how the United States will swallow the bitter fruit of canceling Hong Kong's special tariff status. Hu Xijin wrote in a challenging post on Weibo.

According to the Hong Kong Government, the United States had a surplus of US $ 31.1 billion in merchandise trade over Hong Kong, in 2018, the only economy with which they have the largest trade surplus.

"The greatest pillar for Hong Kong to remain an international financial center is its special relationship with the great economy of the Chinese mainland ... The strength of China dictates that there should be an international financial center on our coast, and it will be there where the Chinese want it to be so, ”Hu said in the Weibo post.

- CNN's James Griffiths, Jennifer Hansler, Nicole Gaouette and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.

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