Taiwan: Activists to hold protest against new security law passed in Hong Kong

TAIPAEI: Activists in Taipei will hold a protest this weekend against the new security law passed in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Taiwan News reported. Supported by China, Article 23 will result in people getting tough penalties, including life prison sentences, for treason, secession, and collusion with foreign forces. The new law enables police to detain suspects for 16 days without charge, and courts to hold closed-door trials, according to Taiwan News report.

Activists across the world have decided to hold protests over the new law set to take effect in Hong Kong on March 23. According to Radio Taiwan International (RTI), 10 cities in Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia will express their opposition against Article 23.

The event in Taipei will be held outside the Ximen Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on Saturday at 1:30 pm (local time). According to the organisers, a silent protest will be held after the guests at the event speak about the legislation that is set to be implemented in Hong Kong, Taiwan News reported. The organisers stressed that the legislation did not only impact the people of Hong Kong but also contacts and exchanges between people of Hong Kong and foreign citizens, including from Taiwan.

On March 19, Hong Kong's legislature unanimously passed a new national law that expands government power to crush dissent, Al Jazeera reported. The Safeguarding National Security Law passed includes new measures on treason, espionage, external interference, state secrets and sedition.

"Today is a historic moment for Hong Kong," said Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, who added that the law punishing five major crimes would go into effect on March 23. It gives government more power to quash dissent, widely seen as the latest step in a sweeping political crackdown triggered by pro-democracy protests in 2019. It comes on top of a similar law imposed by Beijing four years ago, which has already largely silenced opposition voices in the financial hub, Al Jazeera reported. The 90-seat council stacked with pro-China loyalists was first presented with the bill on March 8, following a monthlong public consultation, with Hong Kong's leader calling for it to be enacted at "full speed".

As many as 88 lawmakers and the legislative council president voted unanimously to enact the legislation. Coming into effect on Saturday, the law introduces 39 new national security crimes, adding to an already powerful national security law that was directly imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020 after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests the year before, CNN reported.

That law has already transformed Hong Kong, with authorities jailing dozens of political opponents, forcing civil society groups and outspoken media outlets to disband and transforming the once freewheeling city into one that prioritises patriotism. Known locally as Article 23, the new national security legislation covers a raft of new crimes, including treason, espionage, external interference and unlawful handling of state secrets, with the most serious offences punishable by up to life imprisonment, CNN reported.

Critics counter that what China's Communist Party views as national security offences are far broader and more sweeping, often ensnaring political criticism, dissent and even business activity that would not be criminalised elsewhere. Earlier on March 19, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the Beijing-controlled Legislative Council in Hong Kong passed a new security law on March 19 that eliminates the last vestiges of fundamental freedoms in the city. In a statement, HRW stated, "The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance punishes peaceful speech and civil society activism with heavy prison sentences, expands police powers, and weakens due process rights. Because provisions apply to Hong Kong residents and businesses anywhere in the world, the law can silence dissent both in the city and globally."

"The legislature took only 11 days to pass the Ordinance unanimously. At the committee stage, the legislature reviewed the 212-page bill in 39 hours, with no amendments proposed. The law will come into effect on March 23," it added. According to the HRW statement, the people of Hong Kong have consistently opposed such legislation since 2003, when half a million people held a protest against it. It noted that no genuine public consultation took place during the legislative process. Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said, "The new security law will usher Hong Kong into a new era of broad-based oppression."

She added, "Now even possessing a book in Hong Kong critical of the Chinese government can mean years in prison." In the statement, HRW stated that the legislation's provisions contravene human rights guarantees enshrined in the Basic Law, and violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is incorporated into Hong Kong's legal framework via the Basic Law and expressed in the Bill of Rights Ordinance.