China to propose national security legislation for Hong Kong when National People’s Congress gets underway.
United States President Donald Trump says the US will react strongly if China follows through on plans to impose new national security legislation on Hong Kong, after last year’s pro-democracy unrest.
The remarks come hours after a Chinese official said the National People’s Congress is exercising its “constitutional power” to set up a new legal framework and enforcement mechanism to ensure national security in Hong Kong.
“I don’t know what it is, because nobody knows yet. If it happens, we’ll address that issue very strongly,” Mr Trump told reporters.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said a preparatory meeting for a Chinese parliament session adopted an agenda that included an item to review a bill “on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security”.
The South China Morning Post, citing unnamed sources, said the laws would ban secession, foreign interference, terrorism and all seditious activities aimed at toppling the central government and any external interference in the former British colony.
The legislation, which could be introduced as a motion to China’s parliament, could be a turning point for its freest and most international city, potentially triggering a revision of its special status in Washington and likely to spark more unrest.
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-22/china-to-propose-national-security-legislation-for-hong-kong/12274202
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