China Puts Hardliner in Charge of Hong Kong’s New State Security Operation
The judgment Chinese Communist Party on Friday selected a former mayor who punished the rebel town of Wukan to head its national security office in Hong Kong.
China’s cabinet, the State Council selected Zheng Yanxiong, former mayor and Communist Party secretary of Guangdong’s Shanwei city at the time of the Wukan demonstrations, head of its Hong Kong-based national security office.
Luo Huining, who heads Beijing’s Central Intermediary Office in Hong Kong, was likewise made National Security Advisor to the committee established to manage the application of a security law prohibiting subversive and secessionist words and deeds, in addition to collusion with overseas forces and acts considered to be terrorism.
Under new powers offered to her under the new law, Hong Kong primary executive Carrie Lam has actually likewise chosen 6 judges to hear cases under the new law, a relocation that drew an extraordinary comment from Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, who stated judges need to just be selected on the basis of expert and judicial qualities, and not politics.
The office in charge of executing the law won’ t undergo Hong Kong law, however to that of mainland China, and will have the ability to manage specific cases straight if it chooses. Suspects in such cases might likewise be extradited to deal with trial in a mainland Chinese court.
The Hong Kong federal government verified on Thursday that speech will likewise come within the remit of the law, consisting of demonstration mottos from the pro-democracy motion that started as demonstrations versus extradition to mainland China, and which has actually rocked the city for the past year.
The statement followed cops stated they had actually made 10 arrests under the new law after thousands came out onto the city’s streets as the law took result on July 1, the anniversary of the 1997 handover to Chinese guideline.
Hong Kong present affairs analyst Liu Ruishao stated Luo’s “advisor” role would be far more than that in practice.
“His powers include the authority to give advice, which, in the political context of the Chinese Communist Party, means issuing instructions and orders that must be heeded,” Liu informed RFA.
” He is [effectively] playing the role of Communist Party secretary [to the Hong Kong government], so we can see now that there is no more separation in between the 2 systems,” he stated.
‘ Mainland-style governance’
Bruce Lui, senior journalism speaker at Hong Kong’s Baptist University, stated those sent out to enforce the will of the judgment Chinese Communist Party were all understood for their durability.
“I don’t think there will be any tolerance of street protest, and the room allowed for freedom of expression has shrunk a good deal now,” Lui stated.
“This is mainland-style governance, the natural consequences of which will be brainwashing and crackdowns,” he stated.
While working as party secretary of Shanwei in 2011, Zheng styled the Wukan demonstrations, which were stimulated by widespread official corruption and loss of farmland, as being worked up by Hong Kong media and “foreign forces.”
He ended up being understood for stating: “The day you can trust the foreign press, pigs will climb trees.”
Zheng likewise worked as vice minister of the Guangdong provincial propaganda department in 2013, a couple of months after an uncommon public demonstration over press liberty in assistance of a strike by reporters at the Southern Media Group.
Li Jiangzhou, who will be deputy director of the Hong Kong national security office, has a background in internal affairs and currently works as Beijing’s intermediary to the Hong Kong Police.
A lady stands next to layers of keeps in mind on a “Lennon Wall” with messages of assistance for the pro-democracy demonstrations outside a restaurant in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020,
Credit: AFP
23- year-old charged with terrorism and secession
Little is understood about fellow deputy director Sun Qingye beyond media reports that they originate from a national security background. The official Global Times paper stated it was not able even to verify Sun‘s gender.
Veteran Hong Kong policewoman Edwina Lau will head the force’s own national security department, which will be charged with bringing cases under the law that aren’t straight managed by Beijing.
Hong Kong cops on Friday charged a 23- year-old male with terrorism and secession, the first prosecution under the national security law for Hong Kong.
Tong Ying-kit was implicated of crashing a bike into a group of policeman in Wanchai throughout demonstrations on July 1, although social media video at the time appeared to show a rider gotten by around a lots officers, who dragged him from the bike.
Tong is implicated of bring a flag bearing the words: “Free Hong Kong. Revolution Now!” a motto the federal government stated is prohibited under the new law.
He is charged with prompting others to arrange, strategy, commit, or get involved in acts “with a view to committing secession or undermining national unification,” or separating Hong Kong from China, or “altering by unlawful means the legal status” of Hong Kong. He likewise deals with a charge of “engaging in terrorist activities.”
Former Hong Kong political leader and youth leader Nathan Law, who was amongst 6 pro-democracy legislators removed of their seats in Hong Kong’s Legal Council (LegCo) following a decree from Beijing about the credibility of their oaths of loyalty, stated through Twitter that he has actually currently left Hong Kong.
“So I bade my city farewell,” Law composed from a concealed area. “As the plane took off the runway, I gazed down at the skyline I love so much for one last time. Should I have the fortune to ever return, I hope to still remain as I am: the same young man with these same beliefs. Glory to Hong Kong.”
Law stated he left due to the fact that numerous arrangements in the new security law targeted activities he had actually been performing “for years,” and he wishes to continue to lobby for Hong Kong on the international phase.
“As a global-facing activist, the choices I have are stark: to stay silent from now on, or to keep engaging in private diplomacy so I can warn the world of the threat of Chinese authoritarian expansion,” he stated.
” The July 1 crowds show as soon as again that the fire of Hong Kongers’ decision will not be quickly snuffed out,” Law composed. “We must sustain our resistance on all fronts.”
Reported by Lau Siu-fung and Tseng Yat-yiu for RFA’s Cantonese and Mandarin Solutions. Equated and modified by Luisetta Mudie.
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