US expresses concern over new Hong Kong law that would restrict freedoms

USA This Wednesday he expressed his concern about a new national security law of the city of Hong Kong which will come into force this year and could restrict personal freedoms and undermine the ‘one country, two systems’ framework.

“We are especially concerned by the Hong Kong authorities’ proposal to adopt broad and vague definitions of ‘state secrets’ and ‘external interference’, which could be used to suppress dissent for fear of arrest and imprisonment,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

In the view of the United States, the legislation proposed by Hong Kong “further undermines the ‘one country, two systems’ frameworks’” so the North American country “is following closely” its development.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee announced in January his plan to enact a law based on the “article 23” of the city’s Basic Law, with which it plans to expand its legal powers to quell dissent, following the anti-government mobilizations that took place in 2019.

One of the US fears, Miller added, is that the law will negatively affect American citizens, investments and companies operating in Hong Kong.

“We are also concerned that Hong Kong authorities will apply Article 23 extraterritorially in their ongoing campaign of transnational repression to intimidate and restrict the freedom of expression of US citizens and residents.”he added.

Article 23, Miller stated, runs “the risk” to aggravate the National Security Law of 2020 that “has restricted the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong“ong”.

“Enacting additional national security legislation with vaguely defined provisions and purported extraterritorial reach would further violate the PRC’s international commitments and undermine the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ framework.”concluded the spokesperson.

Since the return of Hong Kong to China by the British Government in 1997, the territory has been governed under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, which ensures the separation of legal and judicial structures from the Chinese mainland.

Under its mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, the former colony is responsible for enacting its own law to address seven security-related crimes, including treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets, sabotage and espionage.

The new text is independent of the national security law imposed by Beijing, approved in June 2020 after months of protests and riots in favor of democracy, in which secession, subversion, collusion with foreigners are classified as crimes. and terrorism.

Previously, in 2003, there was an attempt to enact this same regulation, but it was put on hold after a mobilization attended by an estimated hundreds of thousands of residents.