Security Law That Led to Protests in HK Reportedly Passed & Will Come into Effect from 1 July

For one entire year, Hong Kong citizens rebelled in earnest.

Tears have been shed, and blood has been drawn. Chaos was rampant in the nation and it was all for a cause:

To halt all progression of an Extradition bill, which would allow Hong Kong to hand criminals over to Mainland China.

And to that end, they succeeded. The Extradition bill was scrapped, and Hong Kong authorities ceased pursuance of further matters pertaining to the bill. So in a sense, it was a victory in its own right…

But at what cost, exactly?

A year has passed since violent protests swept the nation of Hong Kong, and it seems that China has taken steps to ensure that such an event would never occur again.

Just today (30 June 2020), it was announced that a new national security act has passed in Hong Kong:

A law that would essentially threaten the nation’s semi-autonomous status.

Security Law That Led to Protests in HK Reportedly Passed & Will Come into Effect from 1 July

According to SCMP, Beijing’s top legislative body has approved a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong restricting acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and cooperation with foreign forces to endanger national security.

If you’ve downloaded our app, you’d know about it. If not, you can read more about the law here.

A special meeting was conducted by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on Sunday (28 June), and the bill was eventually passed on the last day of the three-day session. Apparently, the law was approved in unanimous fashion by the standing committee today (30 June).

The decision was believed to have been made within 15 minutes of the meeting, which commenced at 9:00 a.m.

The law will reportedly come into effect from 1 July, the 23rd anniversary of the city’s handover to China from British rule.

Yes, that’s tomorrow.

Mutiny

The decision comes off the back of a long protest, as well as intervention by the United States, which has its own fair share of protests at this moment.

Earlier on, the United States had imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials deemed guilty of undermining local autonomy and freedoms.

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China has since reacted in kind, by announcing visa restrictions on US individuals who “behave egregiously” with regards to Hong Kong state matters.

Just last week, European Union leaders warned Chinese President Xi Jinping that there will be “very negative consequences” over the law’s introduction in Hong Kong.

“The national security law risks seriously undermining the ‘one country, two systems’ principle,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “We also conveyed that China risks very negative consequences if it goes forward with imposing this law.

Well, at this point in time…

I guess only time will tell.

Would there be another massive protest tomorrow?

Chances are, we people here in Singapore would be focusing on our own affairs instead: the general elections.

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