AsiaNews – The final approval of the disputed National Security Law arrived today in Hong Kong, the further tightening of freedoms to repress political crimes such as “treason” and “sedition”. Finally – up a 200+ page bill released just 11 days ago and already discussed in record time in the first reading last week – just one session was enough for it to pass the second and third reading in the Legislative Council, the local parliament, on the same day. There was such urgency to “protect” Hong Kong from “external interference”. And above all the urgency of avoiding what happened in 2003, when a real debate within civil society brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets, which forced the government of the time to withdraw a provision which effectively makes dissent impossible, precisely as happens in mainland China.
With the blessing of the People’s Republic of China, the head of the local government John Lee, the former head of security and very loyal to Beijing, has now imposed the test of strength. He didn’t even try to save the forms by sticking to the usual procedures of the Legislative Council, which he entirely controls anyway since after the last elections in December 2021 only “patriotic” figures can sit there. This despite the fact that in the last real elections in Hong Kong – those for the district councils in 2019 – the pro-Beijing forces were soundly defeated in the popular vote.
In the end, the law on Article 23 – the article of the Basic Law which urged Hong Kong to adopt its own national security legislation – was approved with 89 votes in favor and none against. Without, for example, posing any objection to the fact that in a discussion on such a delicate topic there were no hearings from the judicial world, as normally happens in the Legislative Council. But this law had to be approved as quickly as possible and with the greatest possible support. In a true farce, during today’s discussion all 88 Council members spoke to declare their support for the law. And with the eighty-ninth – the president of the assembly Andrew Leung, who by procedure does not usually vote – who did not want to be outdone and this time added his vote too.
If further proof was needed of how much any semblance of democracy has now been suffocated in Hong Kong, this legislative process provided it. John Lee himself wanted to be personally in the chamber to speak immediately after the vote, to seal the “historic moment”. «This law – he said – is necessary to defend ourselves from people who invade our homes. We need effective tools against black violence and color revolutions. With the new law we will no longer have to worry about people destroying public infrastructure.”
Hong Kong had “headed down the wrong path” – he added – before Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020 (after the massive pro-democracy demonstrations which only in some cases resulted in acts of hooliganism following police beatings – ed.). “We must correctly understand that there must be a country before two systems and that the two systems should not be used to resist a country.” Very clear message on the dismantling of the guarantees that on paper the Basic Law – the law that regulated the return of the former British colony to China in 1997 – should have guaranteed through the “one country, two systems” formula.
From March 23, therefore, in Hong Kong it becomes law to increase the penalties for crimes such as “treason” and “insurrection” to life imprisonment. And how these terms are interpreted in Hong Kong is clearly shown by the trial currently underway against Jimmy Lai, the founder of the newspaper Apple Dailypointed out at every hearing as a “conspirator” simply for having supported the demand for democracy.
The law then increases the possible prison term to 14 years for the crime of “sedition”, which is the charge charged against hundreds of protesters in recent years. But – above all – it seriously compromises fundamental personal freedoms, extending the terms for police detention to up to 14 days and even granting the right to revoke the right to assistance of a lawyer in the first 48 hours. In short: against what it identifies as crimes against “national security” the Hong Kong police will be able to do practically anything from now on. Because no one dares to return to the streets like in 2019.