Hong Kong's new national security bill includes stiff penalties and more power to suppress dissent
Source: Associate Press
Hong Kong’s new national security bill includes stiff penalties and more power to suppress dissent
BY KANIS LEUNG AND ZEN SOO
Updated 9:57 PM EST, March 7, 2024
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong unveiled a new national security bill Friday that proposes up to life imprisonment for offenses like treason and insurrection, a move deepening worries over further erosion of the city’s freedoms after Beijing imposed a similar law four years ago that all but wiped out dissent.
The proposed law will expand the government’s power in stamping out future challenges to its rule, targeting espionage, external interference and protection of state secrets among others. Tougher punishment will be imposed on individuals who collude with external forces to carry out certain illegal acts, such as sabotage and sedition, compared to those who do so on their own.
Under a push by Hong Kong leader John Lee to finish the legislative process “at full speed,” lawmakers are set to begin their debate Friday in a meeting that was specially arranged to expedite it. The bill is expected to pass easily, possibly in weeks, in a legislature packed with Beijing loyalists following an electoral overhaul.
Critics have warned the legislation will make Hong Kong’s legal framework increasingly similar to that of mainland China, and add to a decline in civil liberties that were promised to remain intact for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-article-23-new-security-law-52dc068e5a82dd9ba4ea5bcd7b166290