With Beijing pushing ahead with its plan for the controversial security legislation, the Hong Kong government will have to set up new institutions to safeguard national security and also allow mainland Chinese agencies to operate in the city “when needed”.
All moves were widely criticized by opposition politicians as a means to suppress dissent.
The legislation has sparked fears that it would undermine the principle of “one country, two systems”, eventually leading to erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy as stated under the Sino-British joint declaration of 1997.
The Sino-British joint declaration on the question of Hong Kong was signed in Beijing on December 19, 1984, by the Prime Ministers of China and Britain, Zhao Ziyang and Margaret Thatcher. The two governments agreed that China would reassume control of Hong Kong from July 1, 1997.
The main body of the treaty has eight articles and three annexes and it states that China’s basic policies regarding Hong Kong “will remain unchanged for 50 years”, including the promise that the city would retain a high degree of autonomy.
The move to impose security legislation in Hong Kong has come under fire from the international community, who dubbed it in conflict with the Sino-British joint declaration.
Last month, the US, UK, Canada and Australia expressed “deep concern” over China’s decision to impose national security law in Hong Kong, saying the move would undermine the “one country, two systems”.
In a joint statement, the four countries said that direct imposition of national security legislation on Hong Kong by the Beijing authorities, rather than through Hong Kong’s own institutions as provided for under Article 23 of the Basic Law, “would curtail the Hong Kong people’s liberties, and in doing so, dramatically erode Hong Kong’s autonomy and the system that made it so prosperous”.
The move is also indicative of a broader trend of Beijing using its muscle power to force its will.
Many believe that its actions in Hong Kong and elsewhere are meant to distract from the lack of transparency in handling the coronavirus pandemic, which first surfaced in China and has eventually spread worldwide, infecting over seven million people.
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