More than a dozen Australian politicians are among a group a of global leaders raising concerns about China’s new laws for Hong Kong.
China’s government plans to enforce new security measures, which will target independence activists, foreign forces and terrorists.
In a return of the unrest that hit Hong Kong last year, crowds thronged the Causeway Bay shopping area on Sunday in defiance of curbs imposed to contain the coronavirus.
Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of people who rallied to protest against Beijing’s plan.
Hong Kong was handed back to China with no framework for what would happen after the year 2047, leaving the city to carve an identity out of two ideologically opposed empires.
The demonstrations came amid concerns over the fate of the One Country, Two Systems formula that has governed Hong Kong since the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.
The arrangement guarantees the city broad freedoms not seen on the mainland, including a free press and independent judiciary.
The security laws have also worried financial markets and drawn rebukes from foreign governments, human rights groups and some business lobbies.
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-25/hong-kong-china-national-security-laws-us-sanctions/12281774
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