The Chinese government is taking over efforts to enact national security legislation in Hong Kong, which could lead to new restrictions on the semi-autonomous territory’s political opposition. The announcement was sharply criticized by the United States.
Now, China appears to be sidestepping Hong Kong’s lawmaking body to enact the legislation. Zhang said that the new measures are required by the “new situation and demands” and that action at the national level is “entirely necessary.”
In Washington, where President Donald Trump and his top national security officials have been increasingly critical of China for both its response to the coronavirus pandemic and actions in Hong Kong, the State Department said such a move would “undermine the PRC’s commitments and obligations in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.”
A vote at the NPC will add to concerns in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp that Beijing is chipping away at the territory’s rights to assembly and free speech that greatly exceed those permitted by the ruling Communist Party in mainland China. “A broad-brush interpretation of this law would signal the end of Hong Kong as we know it,” Patterson said.
The holding of the “two sessions,” as the annual meetings are known, is a further sign of what the party says is its success in bringing the outbreak under control, although clusters of cases are still popping up in some parts of the country.
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