* China’s government has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms since imposing the draconian National Security Law on June 30, 2020.
* The Chinese government has largely dismantled freedoms of expression, association and assembly, free and fair elections, fair trial rights and judicial independence, and ended the city’s semi-democracy.
* Other governments should press the Chinese government to end its repressive policies in Hong Kong by holding responsible officials to account.
>[…]
**Creating a “Patriots Only” Hong Kong**
*New National Security Legal Regime and Bureaucracy*
>The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have established a national security legal regime. Augmenting the National Security Law, the Hong Kong government in March 2024 also introduced the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO).
>The Hong Kong authorities also revived a colonial-era sedition law under the Crimes Ordinance. After the Court of Final Appeal ruled in December 2021 that sedition constituted a security-related crime, sedition has become the most frequently used national security offense to target a wide range of peaceful expression, including children’s books, independent journalism, and social media posts. The SNSO further raised the maximum penalty for sedition from 2 to 7 years in prison, and 10 years when it involves “collusion with foreign forces.”
>Taken together, the three laws expand police powers, stipulate harsh punishments up to life in prison for peaceful speech and activism, and deprive suspects of fair trial rights. Suspects are typically denied bail, subjected to years of prolonged pretrial detention, and tried not by a jury but by judges hand-picked by Hong Kong’s chief executive.
>Since 2020, 326 people have been arrested for national security offenses; and 187 people and 5 companies have been charged. National security trials have a nearly 100 percent conviction rate.
>The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have also established a new national security bureaucracy: the Office for Safeguarding National Security, which appears to be part of China’s spy agency, the Ministry of State Security; the Hong Kong National Security Committee, a government body consisting of senior Hong Kong officials and a Beijing “adviser” on national security matters; and the National Security Department under the Hong Kong Police Force.
>Very little information is available about these extremely powerful bodies. The Hong Kong government allocated HK$13 billion (US$1.7 million) for national security between 2020 and 2023 but would not disclose the amount allocated in subsequent years.
>In May, the Hong Kong government enacted a set of subsidiary laws accompanying the SNSO that further expand the powers of the Office for Safeguarding National Security, including punishing those who disclose information related to its possible investigations with up to seven years in prison. In June, the Office for Safeguarding National Security and the National Security Department conducted their first joint operation, arresting six people affiliated with an organization for “foreign collusion”; no further information was released.
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* China’s government has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms since imposing the draconian National Security Law on June 30, 2020.
* The Chinese government has largely dismantled freedoms of expression, association and assembly, free and fair elections, fair trial rights and judicial independence, and ended the city’s semi-democracy.
* Other governments should press the Chinese government to end its repressive policies in Hong Kong by holding responsible officials to account.
>[…]
**Creating a “Patriots Only” Hong Kong**
*New National Security Legal Regime and Bureaucracy*
>The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have established a national security legal regime. Augmenting the National Security Law, the Hong Kong government in March 2024 also introduced the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO).
>The Hong Kong authorities also revived a colonial-era sedition law under the Crimes Ordinance. After the Court of Final Appeal ruled in December 2021 that sedition constituted a security-related crime, sedition has become the most frequently used national security offense to target a wide range of peaceful expression, including children’s books, independent journalism, and social media posts. The SNSO further raised the maximum penalty for sedition from 2 to 7 years in prison, and 10 years when it involves “collusion with foreign forces.”
>Taken together, the three laws expand police powers, stipulate harsh punishments up to life in prison for peaceful speech and activism, and deprive suspects of fair trial rights. Suspects are typically denied bail, subjected to years of prolonged pretrial detention, and tried not by a jury but by judges hand-picked by Hong Kong’s chief executive.
>Since 2020, 326 people have been arrested for national security offenses; and 187 people and 5 companies have been charged. National security trials have a nearly 100 percent conviction rate.
>The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have also established a new national security bureaucracy: the Office for Safeguarding National Security, which appears to be part of China’s spy agency, the Ministry of State Security; the Hong Kong National Security Committee, a government body consisting of senior Hong Kong officials and a Beijing “adviser” on national security matters; and the National Security Department under the Hong Kong Police Force.
>Very little information is available about these extremely powerful bodies. The Hong Kong government allocated HK$13 billion (US$1.7 million) for national security between 2020 and 2023 but would not disclose the amount allocated in subsequent years.
>In May, the Hong Kong government enacted a set of subsidiary laws accompanying the SNSO that further expand the powers of the Office for Safeguarding National Security, including punishing those who disclose information related to its possible investigations with up to seven years in prison. In June, the Office for Safeguarding National Security and the National Security Department conducted their first joint operation, arresting six people affiliated with an organization for “foreign collusion”; no further information was released.