Beijing unanimously passed a national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday, a day before the 23rd anniversary of the city’s handover.

All 162 members of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee gave their green light to the highly contentious law on Tuesday morning, sources told Apple Daily. It is reported that law will be inserted into Annex III of the Basic Law and the Hong Kong government will publish the full text in the gazette on the same day.

Beijing’s enforcement of the security law sabotages Hong Kong’s legal system and judicial independence under the common law, said Wu Chi Wai, chairperson of the Democratic Party. Wu also noted that the international community would lose confidence in Hong Kong.

“With the new law, Hong Kong’s ‘one country, two systems’ is over,” said Wu.
The imposition of the national security law leaves no doubt that Hong Kong is now under “one country, one system”, said Lo Hing-Cho, president of the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong. The central government has shredded its promise to honor “one country, two systems”, he added.

The act of lobbying for foreign sanctions on China and Hong Kong is reportedly criminalized under the new legislation and will be considered collusion with foreign forces. The penalty will be decided by the severity of the case – a sentence of three to ten years for minor offences and life imprisonment for major offences. But the law is not expected to be retrospective.

Beijing’s Liaison Office will be meeting local delegates to the NPC and Hong Kong members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference this afternoon. Director of the office, Luo Huining, is expected to be present and explain details of the law.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam remained tight-lipped about the law at this morning’s weekly press briefing. She said it would be inappropriate for her to comment before the end of the NPC meeting, despite looming speculations about the law’s provisions and personnel arrangement in the past two days.

Lam said that her administration would do its best to respond to queries on the implementation and enforcement of the law, after the NPCSC voted and passed it.

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