Chinese lawmakers began a new meeting this Sunday on the controversial bill which aims to restore stability in the former British colony. A vote is expected to take place on Monday or Tuesday.
The police are dispersing the demonstrators who are protesting this Sunday in Hong Kong against the security law envisaged by China.
KEYSTONE
China is nearing the adoption of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong on Sunday, national legislators are once again studying the text accused of wanting to muzzle the opposition in the autonomous territory.
Beijing and the Hong Kong executive assure that such legislation is necessary to restore stability in the former British colony, which returned to China in 1997 and was shaken last year by monstrous demonstrations against the central power.
For critics of the law, including the pro-democracy opposition of Hong Kong, the United States, the G7 countries and the European Union (EU), the text risks undermining the autonomy and freedoms of the territory.
Three days of meeting
The bill has been submitted since Sunday to the legislators of the standing committee of the national parliament, who had already studied it for the first time in June, said the official agency Chine nouvelle.
The present meeting of members of this body submitted to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will last three days. A vote is expected a priori Monday or Tuesday. No new details were given on the content of the text.
The law targets separatism, terrorism, subversion and collusion with foreigners, and a “national security body” under the central government is expected to be established in Hong Kong, China said in June.
“Basic Law”
Since its handover, the territory has enjoyed a large autonomy from mainland China. Hong Kong people, for example, enjoy freedom of expression and independent justice.
Article 23 of the “Basic Law”, which has served as a mini-constitution in Hong Kong since 1997, provides that the region will adopt a law prohibiting “treason, secession, sedition (and) subversion”.
The Legislative Council (LegCo, the Hong Kong parliament) had already tried to pass such legislation in 2003, but gave up in the face of demonstrations in the city streets.
(AFP/NXP)
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