Japanese lawmakers move to protect Hongkongers from China’s national security law

With the enactment of Hong Kong security law by mainland China, Japan has come forward to assist Hong Kongers wanting to flee the city to save their lives and for the purpose, lawmakers in Japan are formulating plans to form a nonpartisan group.
Former defense minister Nakatani Gen of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, Lower House member Yamao Shiori of the Democratic Party for the People, and others will launch the group on July 29.
They will be urging the government to extend the period of stay of Hong Kongers in Japan without visas, and also ease the requirement for obtaining working visas.
The new group seeks to protect the freedom and rights of Hong Kong citizens.
They will also pursue the enactment of legislation that would allow the government or the Diet to investigate possible cases of human rights abuse in Hong Kong.
The legislation would also permit sanctions, such as freezing of assets of those involved in the abuse.
Nakatani said the members will work across party lines to help people in Hong Kong and stop human rights violations by Beijing.
On June 30, China passed the draconian national security law for Hong Kong that lends Beijing sweeping new powers over the semi-autonomous city. The law allows mainland Chinese officials to operate in Hong Kong for the first time, giving Beijing the power to override local laws and impacts broad swathes of Hong Kong society — as well as foreign nationals overseas. The legislation also four activities: “secession, subversion, organization and perpetration of terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”.
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