BEIJING (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG)China’s government will put Hong Kong national security laws on the agenda of its parliamentary session that opens on Friday (May 22), a senior Hong Kong government source told Reuters.
The technical details behind what is expected to be a highly provocative move remain unclear however, further details will be announced afterwards on Thursday, the source said.
China said on Thursday it supports improving the system and mechanism related to the Constitution and Basic Law of Hong Kong and Macau, in comments likely to stir concern that it could take measures to tighten its grip on Hong Kong.
The previous European colonies returned to Chinese rule in the late 1990s under a system aimed at preserving their economic systems and ensuring their autonomy, known as "one country, two systems".
However, in Hong Kong in particular, the political system has been thrown into question by student-led pro-democracy protests that went on for months the previous year and have shown signs of building up again in recent weeks.
"We will push for the long-term stability of one country, two systems ... and continue to support the improvement of implementing the systems and mechanisms of the Constitution and Basic Law," Wang Yang, the ruling Communist Party's fourth-ranked leader and head of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said in a speech.
He did not elaborate. Hong Kong's "Basic Law" is its mini Constitution.
Wang's remarks came at the opening of a session of the government advisory body that meets in parallel with Parliament, which starts its annual session on Friday (May 22) and will lay out policy targets and initiatives for the year.
Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997. The previous Portuguese colony of Macau returned two years afterwards.
The high degree of autonomy promised to Hong Kong for 50 years under the "one country, two systems" arrangement has helped it thrive as a financial centre, while Macau is a major gambling centre.
However, several people in Hong Kong fear that Beijing is whittling away at its freedoms, worries that fuelled the sometimes violent protests the previous year. The protests have ebbed since January because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Hong Kong representatives were slated to be briefed on Thursday before a formal announcement in Beijing, the report said. The newly appointed director of China’s cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, is set to outline Beijing’s latest directives to numerous city officials, HKO1 reported earlier.
The National People’s Congress will hold a news briefing at 9:40pm Thursday, ahead of opening session on Friday.
“This is them saying, ‘I'm calling the shots. I'm setting the parameters. Resistance is futile,’” said Joseph Cheng, a retired political science professor and veteran pro-democracy activist. “It’s part of their approach of no concessions, no dialogue.”
Earlier, pro-Beijing figures including Chan Man-ki and Ng Chau-pei, both Hong Kong deputies to the National People’s Congress, had said they would propose such measures by bypassing the city’s Legislative Council.
The laws – including banning treason, sedition and secession – are vigorously opposed by pro-democracy politicians and have sparked mass protests in the past. The national security laws are required to eventually be passed by Article 23 of the Basic Law.
However, successive governments have failed to pass them, with the latest effort in 2003 resulting in widespread street demonstrations.
An attempt to pass security laws now could reignite street protests that hammered the city’s economy the previous year and serve as a flash point amid broader US-China tensions.
The proposal from the Hong Kong NPC delegates suggests passing the same security laws by using Article 18, which permits the national legislature to pass laws relating to defense or foreign affairs if, among other things, it believes there is “turmoil within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region which endangers national unity or security and is beyond the control of the government” or a state of emergency.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, whose extradition bill the previous year ignited unprecedented unrest in the city, said this week that she viewed the national security laws as an “important constitutional requirement for the government”, that was needed in light of the “violence and near terrorist acts” of the recent protests.
Scuffles broke out in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council this month as pro-democracy legislators sought to block Beijing-backed bills, including one criminalising disrespect for the national anthem.
Some protesters have called for demonstrators to surround the legislature to block the second reading of the bill on May 27, nearly 11 months after some demonstrators broke into and ransacked the chamber.