Thread by @KongTsungGan

Have just swiftly read the 'national security law' which came into effect at 11pm on June 30 at the moment it was published. As of yet, there's no English translation. My 1st observation is, no big surprises: most of the contents were previously divulged. gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/2…

There's nothing in the law that provides for its retroactive application or for transport of suspects/defendants from #HK to China. Nor is there anything in it about the Chief Executive choosing judges for natsec trials or the setting up of separate natsec courts.

But much of the law is vaguely worded & open to interpretation, & the law clearly states only the NPCSC has the power of 'interpretation', which means in effect that to a large extent, the law means whatever the #CCP, a clearly interested party in the matter, says what it means.

Some notes: the 4 crimes covered are those previously reported: secession/separatism, subversion of state power, terrorism & colluding w foreign or external forces to endanger national security. All except terrorism are entirely new crimes in #HK.

Under all 4 crimes, the penalties for serious offenders are 10 years to life in prison & for less serious offenders 3-10yrs. Penalties for inciting or aiding the crimes are 5-10yrs.

All 4 crimes are probably too broadly or vaguely worded to withstand challenges in a constitutional court in a jurisdiction w firm rule-of-law tradition. But presumably HK Court of Final Appeal has no power to interpret the law, definitely no ultimate power-that rests w NPCSC

The 4 crimes could easily be interpreted to apply to many previously lawful acts taken by people in the #HK freedom struggle over the past year (calling for sanctions) & also unlawful acts (you can now potentially be charged w subversion for damaging or obstructing govt offices).

Sorry, that last statement is false. @DavidJRMissal just pointed me to Art.44, which says the CE shall appoint judges for national security cases. This is also what had been previously reported in the media based on statements by pro-CCP insiders.

.@DavidJRMissal also pointed out that Art 56 allows for Chinese jurisdiction in cases deemed to be 'serious' or 'complex' & that the Supreme People's Procuratorate will choose the courts in such cases, though there are no provisions for how the defendant will be removed from #HK.

#HK govt is to establish a national security committee/council/commission headed by CE & 'supervised' by the Central People's Govt. Info about the committee's work is 'not to be disclosed' & its decisions not subject to judicial review.

A 'national security adviser' appointed by the Central People's Govt shall provide advice to the HK govt's national security committee & also attend its meetings.

A new unit shall be set up in the police force to 'maintain national security'. Among other things this department is to 'collect intelligence' (ie, spy). Across the law, there is much opportunity for authorities to spy on people with little to no accountability.

The Dept of Justice is to set up a new 'national security crime prosecution department'.
So, overall, w/in HK govt, 3 new 'national security' groups: a 'national security council' (whose work is apparently secret), a new unit in the police, & new dept in the Dept of Justice.

Then, in addition to those 3 new groups in HK govt, the Central People's Govt establishes a 'national security agency' in HK to 'supervise, guide & coordinate' HKSAR govt natsec efforts, also to 'collect intelligence' (spying by Chinese authorities now authorized by law)...

...& to 'handle crimes'. This central govt 'national security agency' has jurisdiction in 'complex cases' (not very precisely defined) involving intervention by foreign forces, or where HKSAR can't implement law or in case of 'major threat' to national security.

It says this central govt 'national security agency' must follow HKSAR laws but at the same time is not subject to HKSAR jurisdiction & HKSAR authorities such as the police can't interfere in its work. So it's basically above/outside of #HK law.

Overall, the law criminalizes many previously lawful activities. Because of its sometimes vague wording & the fact that the entities responsible for implementing it appear to be either above the law or secret or both & there are no mechanisms to hold them accountable to #HK...

...in effect, the law acts as a kind of threat: basically, we can do whatever we want to you with virtually no independent oversight. It definitely weakens rule of law in #HK & sends a chill through society, making people guess whether they will fall foul of the law.

Of course, in that respect, it acts much as 'law' does in China, as a kind of cudgel to control people. Authorities, on the other hand, are placed substantially if not wholly above the law, another typical Chinese characteristic.

Overall, #HK people didn't want, need or initiate this 'law'. It's meant to protect not the 'nation' but the Party. & it's essentially meant to target political acts, including nonviolent acts, that in a normal society would be perfectly legal. It's a political control mechanism.

The implications of the law are so wide-ranging & there are so few protections built in that it can essentially apply to whatever the (unelected) authorities decide to apply it to. In this respect, it definitely has a totalitarian aspect to it.

What's more is the overall governance model it assumes; it is that of a surveillance state. With this law in place, it's hard to imagine the #CCP ever allowing genuine universal suffrage as required by the Basic Law. The law assumes the CE & police are firmly under CCP control.

So not only has the #CCP essentially destroyed 'one country, two systems' with this law (it had already been undermining it for years) but the law makes it less likely than ever that the CCP will honor other legal & international obligations to #HK.

The rest of the world really must look at this situation honestly: The #CCP has broken its promise over #HK. For their own good, other countries can't afford to let the CCP get away with that. The CCP's imposition of natsec on HK marks the start of a new cold war.

For the rest of the world not to put its foot down over the #CCP-imposed 'national security law' in #HK would be a form of appeasement similar to that toward the Nazis over the Sudetenland or the Soviets over eastern Europe after WWII.

Some might say that the difference is the rest of the world recognizes Chinese sovereignty over #HK, but I would challenge the world to stop recognizing it, given that the #CCP hasn't held up its side of the bargain.

The rest of the world also must recognize that the current political status of #HK is one to which HK people never assented in any way. HK people were never asked if they wished to belong to China. HK people remain a colonized people.

For years, the UN & the world powers have gone along with the convenient fiction that Tibet belongs to China, Taiwan belongs to China, Xinjiang belongs to China, HK belongs to China. But this is a fiction that the peoples of those places have consistently protested against.

After the Umbrella Movement, when young people began to advocate self-determination & independence, people like Chris Patten (whom I've come to respect ever more down through the years as a true defender of #HK) & others would say that's unrealistic; stick w universal suffrage.

To that I would always say, What makes you think genuine universal suffrage is any more realistic an aim than independence or self-determination? They'd answer, It's in the constitutional framework. To which I'd respond, As if that matters to the #CCP!

Now I hope it has become clear to the rest of the world that under #CCP rule, #HK people simply have nowhere to go to obtain their basic human rights. There's no chance of genuine suffrage, no chance of any real autonomy. What solution do you propose for #HK people?

The irony of the #CCP security law is that the CCP felt the need to impose it to combat 'separatism' but the only reason any demands for independence ever arose was that the CCP refused to grant suffrage, which made people hopeless that they could get their rights under the CCP.

So instead of granting people their rights, #CCP abuses their rights even more. This is the vicious cycle of dictatorship & the history of 70+ years of #CCP rule in China. Can anyone honestly see an end to it? Can anyone see a way out?

When I look over the list of 'crimes' in the #CCP security law & read their definitions, I can see many that I & my many brothers & sisters in the #HK freedom struggle are 'guilty' of & the reason we are 'guilty' of them is that we have fought long & hard for our basic rights.

Under #CCP rule, there's no way to justly resolve differences. The CCP simply refuses to recognize people as citizens, only as subjects. It won't negotiate with subjects or even allow that they have legitimate demands. Its only question is how to impose its will on them.

Politics, under #CCP rule, is always, by definition, a zero-sum game: It wins; you lose. There can be no other outcome. Citizens under its rule constantly face a dilemma: submit or rebel. There is no middle ground, no other options.

Now that the democratic societies of the world have for so long appeased the #CCP, refusing to recognize its true nature, they too begin to face an equally stark dilemma: it's come to the point where the CCP will increasingly threaten & undermine them if they don't stand up to it

This state of affairs is just beginning to dawn on the rest of the world, but it will take resolute political leadership (which exists neither in North America nor Europe atm) & cooperation in order to effectively put a halt to the #CCP's attack on universal values.

The paradox of #CCP dictatorship is it appears both omnipotent & pathetically weak. Its imposition of the security law is an admission of defeat: After 23yrs of its rule,HK people have so emphatically withheld their consent that the CCP's resorted to this-what a colossal failure!

Similarly, to other countries, the #CCP can appear a leviathan, due primarily to its economic might, secondarily to its military. But what's equally striking is how little it has going for it: its political model has close to zero attraction; culturally, it's bankrupt.

The real problem of #CCP power globally isn't the CCP but the West's crisis of confidence & its willingness up to now to subordinate foreign policy to business & finance. This too can change, but it'll take Western political leadership with a true global vision.

If you ask Western leaders (or for that matter, Western citizens) for their vision of the world, few will be able to give you a coherent & convincing account. It's as if they have found the key to a decent society- freedom, democracy & human rights- & then forgotten it.

Yes, the world's complicated, but the answer to the threat the #CCP poses is really quite simple: a foreign policy, shared by all major democracies, built upon a foundation of freedom, democracy & human rights. That may sound naive but ultimately it's the only way out.

I am worried about the fate of #HK, about the fate of sisters & brothers in the freedom struggle. I want the world to pay attention to HK, to them. But I want the world to pay attention to itself too. Can HK's plight make it wake up & see what really matters?