3 years ago
At least 53 people have been arrested in Hong Kong for protesting the planned national security legislation to be implemented by the mainland Chinese government.
The protest by several hundred was peaceful at first but scuffles broke out later and the police used pepper spray. Hong Kong police said in a Facebook post that 53 people had been arrested for unlawful protests and for trying to blockade roads.
The proposed national security law has raised concerns among Hong Kong democracy activists and some foreign governments that Beijing is further eroding the extensive autonomy promised when Britain handed the territory back to China in 1997.
“The governments wants to shut us up and to kick us out,” one protester, Roy Chan, 44, said. “We must stand up and strike down all those people who deprive Hong Kong people’s freedom.”
Sunday’s event came a day after Hong Kong police refused permission for an annual march usually held on July 1 to mark the 1997 handover, citing a ban on large gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
China has said the new security law will target only a small group of troublemakers as it tackles separatism, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in Hong Kong.
China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee reviewed a draft of the bill on Sunday.
Chinese state media reported that lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the draft. The Chinese government has “unshakable determination to push ahead with enactment of the security bill and safeguard national sovereignty and interest,” state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing a government spokesperson.
