Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

Hong Kong police arrested Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai under the national security law as part of an investigation into an online group that canvassed foreign countries to sanction the city and received more than HK$1 million ($129,000) from overseas bank accounts, the South China Morning Post has learned. Former student activist Agnes Chow and two others arrested were also allegedly involved in the group. Sources said the group is called “I want laam caau,” a Cantonese expression meaning “embrace and fry.” It sums up the popular protest slogan, “If we burn, you burn with us,” used by participants in the anti-government unrest that roiled the former British colony last year. Officers from t

Hong Kong police on Monday raided the offices of the city’s Apple Daily newspaper and arrested its founder Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing, under the new national security law. A police source told the South China Morning Post that the media mogul was arrested “for collusion with a foreign country, uttering seditious words and conspiracy to defraud.” Another eight people, including Lai’s two sons, had also been taken into custody. The arrests were the most high-profile use to date of Hong Kong’s security law, which was imposed on the former British colony in June amid opposition from the city’s pro-democracy lawmakers and Western democracies including the United States. In response

Special passports held by some Hong Kongers may no longer be recognised in the mainland, Beijing threatened on Thursday. China’s reaction did not dampen the resolve of some Hong Kong residents to emigrate. Scholars, advocates and immigration consultants described the UK offer for British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) passport holders as more generous than expected, and Beijing’s comeback as largely symbolic. BN(O) passports were granted to Hong Kong residents born before Britain returned the former Chinese rule in 1997.   The British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday revealed that Hongkongers with BN(O) papers wishing to move to the UK would be exempt from its income threshold requireme

Britain was on Monday poised to announce plans to suspend or revoke its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to mainland China imposing a controversial national security law on the former British colony. The plans looked set to further sour Britain’s diplomatic relations with Beijing, as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began his London visit to hammer out a British-American strategy on China with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was expected to make an announcement on the Hong Kong treaty when he addressed his country’s parliament on Monday. It followed weeks of lobbying from lawmakers to suspend a legal instrument they fear could be used by Hon

China’s President Xi Jinping has promised leading international business executives that China will stick to its “peaceful development” path and continue to reform and open up its domestic market. In a bid to win the hearts and minds of the global business community amid rising tensions with the United States, Xi’s letter to the Global CEO Council stated that the long-term economic fundamentals of the Chinese economy remain sound and “will not change” despite the impact of the coronavirus. A summary of the letter was published by the official Xinhua News Agency on Thursday, shortly after China announced its economy grew by 3.2% in the second quarter of 2020. This followed the historic 6.8% d

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order ending Hong Kong’s preferential trade treatment and enacted a bill that would require sanctions against foreign individuals and banks that contribute to the erosion of the city’s autonomy. “Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China,” Trump said in a news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House. “No special privileges, no special economic treatment, and no export of sensitive technologies.” On Wednesday, China said it would retaliate and sanction United States institutions and individuals. The Hong Kong Autonomy Act and executive order are in response to China’s imposition of a controversial national secur

The Hong Kong authorities could block social media giants if they refused to hand over user data to the police under a new national security law, analysts said, describing a worst-case scenario that could drive global internet companies out of the Asian financial center. The world’s leading social media firms, including Google, Facebook (and its messaging app WhatsApp), Twitter, Telegram and LinkedIn, have so far presented a united front against such requests.  Their announcements to hit pause on processing requests by Hong Kong authorities for user data came a week after Beijing imposed the security law that critics feared could be used to crack down on dissent in the city. The former Briti

Foreign companies operating in Hong Kong are facing a delicate decision as they digest the details of the city’s controversial new national security law: abide by the rules or support US sanctions against China for imposing the legislation. Company insiders and diplomatic sources said it was too early to assess the impact of the law on business in the financial hub. But its vague language and broad provisions have stoked fears and may result in “huge insecurity” for foreign firms – particularly a clause stating any person or organization that imposes sanctions could be punished. They said the legislation could be a wake-up call for businesses to re-evaluate their engagement with China, and i

The national security law that Beijing has imposed on Hong Kong has raised concerns among legal experts that it could apply everywhere. The controversial legislation came into force late on the night of June 30, after it was unanimously passed by Beijing’s top legislative body and signed into law by President Xi Jinping. The law prohibits secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security, with a maximum penalty of life in prison. Legal experts said Article 38 of the law, which covers even offenses by people outside the city who are not Hong Kong residents, creates a “chilling” overreach.  They said the coverage goes furth

Washington expressed strong displeasure on Tuesday over the passage of the Hong Kong national security law as US lawmakers debated what leverage they have to effectively apply pressure on Beijing. “The United States will not stand idly by while China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. “The United States will continue to stand with the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong and respond to Beijing’s attacks on freedoms of speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the rule of law.” China’s top legislative body on Tuesday enacted the security law before its provisions had been seen by the Hong Kong government or the public. Crimi