Hong Kong loses independence as China takes hold of national security

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Hong Kong loses independence as China takes hold of national security

By Digital Editor Jack Houghton | Sky News

Hong Kong loses independence as China takes hold of national security

While you slept last night, Hong Kong lost its independence to China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s new national security laws came into effect at 1am Sydney time, an hour before the 23rd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule.

The legislation was not made public before the bill was signed by Mr Xi in Beijing.

Now the worst fears of critics have been realised.

Mr Xi now has the power to impose life sentences for crimes of “collusion with a foreign power” on any citizen or resident of Hong Kong.

Even non-permanent residents can be jailed for life.

He now has the power to order the surveillance and the wiretapping of anyone suspected of being linked to these crimes.

Anyone convicted in Mr Xi’s courts on these charges will be banned from standing in Hong Kong elections.

And Mr Xi now has legal authority to establish a national security agency in the heart of Hong Kong to monitor what its people say on social media, in public and in their homes.

The days of one country, two systems are officially over.

China’s state-owned media has applauded the developments.

The “law strikes”, as the Global Times describes them, have “nothing to do with freedom of speech, assembly and association”.

“Claims that the law was enacted to strengthen control on Hong Kong society are either prejudiced interpretations or ill-intentioned propaganda,” it wrote after details of the laws were revealed.

“Hong Kong needs a law to safeguard national security.

“But there had been a vacuum in relevant legislation due to opposition forces’ obstruction.

“The city’s unrest is directly related to the absence of the national security law. Eventually, it is logical for the central government to take action and for the Standing Committee of the NPC to legislate it.”

The Global Times denies this means the death of the one country, two systems and alleges “extreme forces in Hong Kong” have unfairly used the independent system to “collude with the US and other external forces to mess up the city”.

This is the reason for violent protests, it argues.

The newspaper’s words give insight into the motivations of Mr Xi and why he acted so swiftly to impose such radical changes.

“There is a malicious scheme to pull Hong Kong from China into the US’ power circle and turn the city into a fulcrum for the US to contain China,” the Global Times wrote.

“Some forces in Hong Kong have been actively coordinating with such a scheme.

“These forces have dragged Hong Kong off the right track of development. Over the past few years, the city has suddenly become highly politicized and violent, caring not about its precious status as an international financial hub. It turned into a puppet of the US and lost its way.”

China has become increasingly more hostile to the West since the coronavirus outbreak.

The world is owed an explanation as to how it convinced the World Health Organisation to cover up evidence of the outbreak in the early days.

But there are also more immediate security concerns that deserve a watchful eye.

While China took hold of Hong Kong, one of its foremost technology giants, Huawei, was making a play to be involved in the development of Australian cybersecurity infrastructure.

Ironically, much of the Coalition’s 2020 Cyber Security Strategy was drafted with Chinese cybersecurity attacks in mind.

Still, most recently Huawei is pushing Prime Minister Scott Morrison to consider funding “new applications and business models for 5G” and allow it greater access to tertiary education facilities.

A terrifying notion considering the Chinese Government has the ability to order surveillance on any Huawei employee living on the mainland.

It is also logical to assume data at the centre of any agreement would be compromised.

Australian Universities rely so heavily on Chinese students to fill their now empty coffers that their opinions on the matter should thoroughly be ignored.

We must keep Australian critical infrastructure and education facilities free of all compromise.

The Chinese Government has no interest in civility or compromise. It only wants dominance and subservience.

Don’t believe me? Ask those living in Hong Kong who have just lost their right to freedom.

Original source : https://www.skynews.com.au/details/5efbebd1a0e8450018f923b9