China plans to establish a special bureau in Hong Kong to investigate and prosecute crimes considered threatening to national security, as state media reported some details of a highly controversial national security law for the city.
People walk at the waterfront of the Victoria Harbor of Hong Kong, Saturday, June 20, 2020. China's top legislative body has taken up a draft national security law for Hong Kong that has been strongly criticized as undermining the semi-autonomous territory's legal and political institutions.
The announcement is sure to increase concerns that China’s central government will continue to tighten its grip on Hong Kong. Beijing has said it is determined to press ahead with the national security legislation — which has been strongly criticized as undermining the Asian financial hub's legal and political institutions — despite heavy criticism from within Hong Kong and abroad.
The bill was submitted Thursday for deliberation, covering four categories of crimes: secession, subversion of state power, local terrorist activities and collaborating with foreign or external foreign forces to endanger national security. In its full session last month, the congress ratified a decision to enact such legislation at the national level after Hong Kong’s own Legislative Council was unable to do so because of strong local opposition. Critics say the law could severely limit free speech and opposition political activity.
China has sought to assuage concerns by saying the new legislation would only target “acts and activities that severely undermine national security," according to Xinhua.
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