China Lawmakers to Discuss Hong Kong Security Legislation This Week

(Bloomberg) -- China’s top legislative body will start deliberations Thursday on national security legislation for Hong Kong, moving ahead with a proposal that democracy advocates, business groups and foreign governments have warned threatens to erode the financial center’s unique freedoms.

The decision to add the legislation to the agenda of National People’s Congress Standing Committee was announced at the last minute and suggests the legislation could be handed down by the time the meeting wraps up Saturday. Details of the measure, which will punish acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces in the former British colony, haven’t been made public since being approved by the broader National People’s Congress last month.

The controversial legislation is unlikely to be passed at this session, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday afternoon, citing a mainland source familiar with the city’s affairs.

“The draft law has clear regulations and penalties to prevent, prohibit and punish four types of crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security,” official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday. While the report didn’t specify when the NPC Standing Committee would vote on the draft, the body usually announces its decisions at the end of such meetings.

The legislation could determine the future of Hong Kong, raising questions about the autonomy of a city whose global status is a underpinned by its legal distinction from the mainland. President Xi Jinping’s government decided last month to bypass the elected local legislature and impose the security laws, after a wave of historically large and sometimes violent protests gripped the city last year.

China’s moves in Hong Kong have rekindled street protests, while the Trump administration has threatened to revoke Hong Kong’s special trade status under U.S. law. Opposition leaders have warned the move would mark the end of the “one country, two systems” principle by which the city was meant to be governed until 2047.

China said Thursday it was “determined” to push forward the legislation.

“We urge all parties to carefully study China’s constitution and Hong Kong’s Basic Law, and to treat the legislation in a fair and objective manner, abide by international laws and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a briefing in Beijing.

The Group of Seven foreign ministers urged China’s government Wednesday to reconsider its plan to impose the legislation, in a show of unity aimed at underscoring the Chinese leadership’s isolation. The national security law “would jeopardize the system which has allowed Hong Kong to flourish and made it a success over many years,” the G-7 foreign ministers and the European Union’s high representative said in a statement.

This week, a group of 86 civil society organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, wrote a letter to National People’s Congress Chairman Li Zhanshu, the Communist Party’s No. 3 leader, calling the new national security law a “devastating assault on human rights” that should be abandoned.

Beijing’s appointed leaders in Hong Kong have been seeking to reassure local residents, foreign officials and overseas investors about the looming legislation, but have been unable to offer any details -- saying that the legislation was being drafted in Beijing.

The Xinhua report included a subtle shift in language that may suggest China is sensitive to some overseas concerns. While earlier statements said the legislation would target “activities of foreign and external forces,” Thursday’s report said it would prohibit “collusion with foreign forces or external forces,” putting more emphasis on local actors.

Deng Zhonghua, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, told a conference Monday that the legislation wouldn’t be retroactive, potentially limiting the scope of the legislation. Deng also added that new agencies will be set up as part of the enforcement mechanisms, with China “reserving the right to have jurisdiction over cases that seriously endanger national security under very rare circumstances.”

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With assistance from Bloomberg