This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
On June 30, 2020, China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, unanimously approved a feared security law for Hong Kong, sending shockwaves through the semi-autonomous city and beyond.
The law, which was first unveiled just six weeks prior, has been met with widespread criticism from the international community, including the United States, Britain, the European Union, and the United Nations rights watchdog.
These organizations have voiced fears that the law could be used to stifle criticism of Beijing, which wields similar laws on the authoritarian mainland to crush dissent.
According to reports, the law bypassed Hong Kong's fractious legislature and its wording was kept secret from the city's 7.5 million inhabitants.
"The national security law for Hong Kong was officially passed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee today," the DAB, Hong Kong's largest pro-Beijing party, said in a statement welcoming the law.
Even as word filtered out that the law had been approved, Hong Kongers remained in the dark about its contents and what might now constitute a crime.
At her weekly press conference, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam declined to comment on whether the law had been passed or what it contained.
"I think at this moment, it is not appropriate for me to comment on any questions related to the national security law," she told reporters.
Pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong tweeted: "It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before. With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate."
Joshua Wong (@joshuawongcf) on Twitter: "It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before. With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate." On Monday, the United States ended sensitive defence exports to Hong Kong over the law. "We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. "We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People's Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship" of the Communist Party. Beijing has said it will have jurisdiction over some cases, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between Hong Kong and the mainland's party-controlled courts since the 1997 handover. On the mainland, national security laws are routinely used to jail critics, especially for the vague offence of "subversion". Beijing and Hong Kong's government reject those allegations, saying the laws will only target a minority of people and will not harm political freedoms in the city.
