Hong Kong looks set to pass sweeping additional security legislation decades in the making. Critics say the legislation is too broad and gives even more power to Hong Kong’s government.
ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
Hong Kong is moving ahead to pass more national security legislation that it says is needed to stabilize the region. Critics say the legislation is too broad and gives even more power to Hong Kong’s government, and therefore Beijing, to control civil society. So we had NPR’s Emily Feng look into the bill.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: The bill is called Safeguarding National Security. And it’s actually mandated by Hong Kong’s own constitution under Article 23, requiring Hong Kong to create laws to punish treason and secession. But when Hong Kong first tried to do that in 2003, this happened.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Shouting in non-English language).
FENG: Mass protests that forced Hong Kong lawmakers…
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Executive Council – very early this morning, the Executive Council decided to defer the resumption of second reading of the Basic Law 23.
FENG: …To shelve the proposal. That was more than 20 years ago. Hong Kong activist Sam Yip was in high school then, and it was the first ever protest he joined since the city came under Beijing’s rule in 1997. He says it was life-changing.
SAM YIP: That’s quite impressive for me because, well, I can never imagine that Hong Kong or Hong Kong peoples at the time really that supportive on democracy.
FENG: But having failed in 2003, Hong Kong will finally pass new Article 23 legislation in the coming weeks. A full draft was released last Friday. For Yip, Article 23 is deja vu.
YIP: The PRC can interfere of Hong Kong because they expanded definition on state secrets.
FENG: And the proposal is on top of a drastic national security law China, or the PRC, already…
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