HONG KONG - Hong Kong activists on Feb 27 staged a rare public protest against government plans for a new national security law, saying it lacked democratic oversight and human rights safeguards.
Public demonstrations have all but vanished in the Chinese finance hub since Beijing quelled huge, sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests in 2019 and imposed a sweeping national security law.
Hong Kong officials now say a further home-grown security law, targeting espionage, state secrets and foreign influence, is needed to plug “loopholes”, with Secretary for Justice Paul Lam earlier saying he had heard no objections during a month of public consultations that ends on Feb 28.
But activist Yu Wai Pan from the League of Social Democrats (LSD) said on Feb 27 that “many Hong Kongers are quite concerned”.
“I don’t understand why the Secretary for Justice said he heard no objection or worry,” said Mr Yu.
The LSD is one of the last remaining opposition groups in Hong Kong and its members have faced multiple prosecutions for their shows of dissent.
Mr Yu and two other activists were surrounded by the press and more than a dozen police officers as they chanted slogans outside the Hong Kong government headquarters on Feb 27.
“National security is important to the people, but it must be based on democracy, freedom and rule of law,” said one of the activists, Ms Chan Po Ying.
The government referenced examples in the United States as well as Britain in defending the proposed legislation, but Ms Chan said the comparison was misleading as Hong Kong was not a democracy.
The month-long public consultation for the new security law, known as Basic Law Article 23, was largely limited to pro-Beijing voices, she added.
Mr Xia Baolong, China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong, arrived in the former British colony last week in a tightly choreographed tour to meet leaders in business and politics.
He discussed the security law proposal with two local lawyers’ groups in a closed-door meeting and engaged in “candid exchanges”, the head of the Hong Kong Bar Association told reporters.
He said on Feb 26 during his meeting with about 40 local and foreign chambers that the “one country, two systems” formula setting Hong Kong apart from mainland Chinese cities will remain a “permanent structure”, the South China Morning Post reported, citing an unidentified attendee.
Hong Kong is guaranteed a high degree of autonomy until at least 2047 under a political arrangement enshrined in the city’s mini-Constitution.
Separately on Feb 27, Hong Kong convicted Joseph John – also known as Wong Kin Chung – of “conspiracy to incite secession”, the first such case involving a dual national.
The Portuguese citizen, 41, pleaded guilty to the national security offence, admitting that he was chairman of the Britain-based Hong Kong Independence Party and an administrator of its six online platforms.
A diplomatic source told AFP that the Portuguese consulate has been unable to visit John since he was arrested and detained in November 2022. AFP, BLOOMBERG
