Latest news with #NationalSecurityLaw
Scoop
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Hong Kong: New National Security Subsidiary Legislation Further Intensifies Repression
Press Release – Fortify Rights New national security measures strengthen Beijings stranglehold on freedoms. (BANGKOK, May 30, 2025)—New national security measures announced in Hong Kong two weeks ago further intensify the crackdown on freedom of expression, association, assembly, and other basic human rights in the city and undermine the rule of law, judicial independence, and Hong Kong's promised autonomy, Fortify Rights said today. A new 'Safeguarding National Security Regulation' came into effect on May 13, 2025, fast-tracked through the city's Legislative Council just one day after the Hong Kong Security Bureau published proposals for subsidiary legislation. 'These new measures intensify Hong Kong's continuing slide into authoritarianism,' said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. 'Further alignment of Hong Kong's judicial system with Beijing's is deeply concerning given the latter's complete lack of judicial independence and widespread use of torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance.' The new regulations strengthen measures adopted under the draconian National Security Law (NSL) imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing on June 30, 2020, and an additional domestic security law enacted by the Beijing-controlled Legislative Council under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, on March 23, 2024. In particular, the new subsidiary legislation strengthens and details procedures for mainland China's ability to exercise jurisdiction over national security cases in Hong Kong, as set out in Article 55 of the 2020 NSL, allowing for prosecutions and trials to take place in the mainland itself. The new measures also designate six sites in Hong Kong – including four hotels–as prohibited locations, because they are bases for the national security bureau. These include the Metropark Hotel Causeway Bay, the City Garden Hotel in North Point, the Island Pacific Hotel in Sai Wan, a China Travel Service hotel in Hung Hom, and two locations along Hoi Fan Road in Tai Kok Tsui. Under the additional regulations, anyone disclosing information about the activities of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, which is under the direct control of the central government in Beijing, would face a prison sentence of up to seven years. The impact of the security laws imposed by Beijing over the past five years has led to an almost complete dismantling of civil society. The laws apply to the crimes of treason, sedition, secession, subversion, and state secrets, including 'collusion' with foreign forces—vaguely defined terms that have been used imprison pro-democracy activists and shutdown civil society activities. Over the past six years, an estimated 1,000 political prisoners have been jailed, including those arrested during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. These include former democratically elected legislators, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Among the most prominent political prisoners are the media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, and human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung. Chow Hang-tung, 40, has been imprisoned since 2021 for her role leading an annual vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, serving multiple sentences. She is charged with inciting subversion under the NSL and has been detained for more than 1,000 days. Jimmy Lai, 77, a British citizen, has been in solitary confinement for more than 1,600 days, held for more than 23 hours a day with no natural light and permitted less than an hour a day for physical exercise. He has been denied the right to independent medical treatment and his first choice of legal counsel, and his international legal team at Doughty Street Chambers have been subjected to rape and death threats and harassment. Jimmy Lai has been arbitrarily detained by the Hong Kong authorities on several occasions, including for 13 months for simply lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He is currently on trial under Hong Kong's draconian NSL, imposed by Beijing in 2020, and could face life imprisonment. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled that both Jimmy Lai and Chow Hang-tung are human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained and should be immediately released. Last week, 22 former political prisoners, hostages, and their relatives sent an open letter to the British prime minister Keir Starmer urging him to act to secure Jimmy Lai's release. Fortify Rights' Senior Director Benedict Rogers attended the press conference at which several of the signatories released the letter. The Safeguarding National Security Regulation may result in further violations of human rights, in addition to the violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and other freedoms already perpetrated under the 2020 NSL and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. If the Chinese authorities prosecute, convict and imprison Hong Kong national security cases in mainland China, the right of defendants to fair trial, and to freedom from arbitrary arrest or disappearance, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced labor, as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), will be significantly undermined. Although China is not a party to the ICCPR, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Basic Law and Bill of Rights incorporate the ICCPR into Hong Kong law and therefore these new regulations violate Hong Kong's obligations under its own domestic law and international law. 'There is a grave risk that Jimmy Lai could die in jail,' said Benedict Rogers. 'The international community, particularly the United Kingdom, has a responsibility to act urgently to secure his release. We urge world leaders to increase pressure on China to free Jimmy Lai, and to spell out the consequences for the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong if they refuse to do so.'
Scoop
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Hong Kong: New National Security Subsidiary Legislation Further Intensifies Repression
(BANGKOK, May 30, 2025)—New national security measures announced in Hong Kong two weeks ago further intensify the crackdown on freedom of expression, association, assembly, and other basic human rights in the city and undermine the rule of law, judicial independence, and Hong Kong's promised autonomy, Fortify Rights said today. A new 'Safeguarding National Security Regulation' came into effect on May 13, 2025, fast-tracked through the city's Legislative Council just one day after the Hong Kong Security Bureau published proposals for subsidiary legislation. 'These new measures intensify Hong Kong's continuing slide into authoritarianism,' said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. 'Further alignment of Hong Kong's judicial system with Beijing's is deeply concerning given the latter's complete lack of judicial independence and widespread use of torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance.' The new regulations strengthen measures adopted under the draconian National Security Law (NSL) imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing on June 30, 2020, and an additional domestic security law enacted by the Beijing-controlled Legislative Council under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, on March 23, 2024. In particular, the new subsidiary legislation strengthens and details procedures for mainland China's ability to exercise jurisdiction over national security cases in Hong Kong, as set out in Article 55 of the 2020 NSL, allowing for prosecutions and trials to take place in the mainland itself. The new measures also designate six sites in Hong Kong – including four hotels–as prohibited locations, because they are bases for the national security bureau. These include the Metropark Hotel Causeway Bay, the City Garden Hotel in North Point, the Island Pacific Hotel in Sai Wan, a China Travel Service hotel in Hung Hom, and two locations along Hoi Fan Road in Tai Kok Tsui. Under the additional regulations, anyone disclosing information about the activities of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, which is under the direct control of the central government in Beijing, would face a prison sentence of up to seven years. The impact of the security laws imposed by Beijing over the past five years has led to an almost complete dismantling of civil society. The laws apply to the crimes of treason, sedition, secession, subversion, and state secrets, including 'collusion' with foreign forces—vaguely defined terms that have been used imprison pro-democracy activists and shutdown civil society activities. Over the past six years, an estimated 1,000 political prisoners have been jailed, including those arrested during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. These include former democratically elected legislators, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Among the most prominent political prisoners are the media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, and human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung. Chow Hang-tung, 40, has been imprisoned since 2021 for her role leading an annual vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, serving multiple sentences. She is charged with inciting subversion under the NSL and has been detained for more than 1,000 days. Jimmy Lai, 77, a British citizen, has been in solitary confinement for more than 1,600 days, held for more than 23 hours a day with no natural light and permitted less than an hour a day for physical exercise. He has been denied the right to independent medical treatment and his first choice of legal counsel, and his international legal team at Doughty Street Chambers have been subjected to rape and death threats and harassment. Jimmy Lai has been arbitrarily detained by the Hong Kong authorities on several occasions, including for 13 months for simply lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He is currently on trial under Hong Kong's draconian NSL, imposed by Beijing in 2020, and could face life imprisonment. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled that both Jimmy Lai and Chow Hang-tung are human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained and should be immediately released. Last week, 22 former political prisoners, hostages, and their relatives sent an open letter to the British prime minister Keir Starmer urging him to act to secure Jimmy Lai's release. Fortify Rights' Senior Director Benedict Rogers attended the press conference at which several of the signatories released the letter. The Safeguarding National Security Regulation may result in further violations of human rights, in addition to the violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and other freedoms already perpetrated under the 2020 NSL and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. If the Chinese authorities prosecute, convict and imprison Hong Kong national security cases in mainland China, the right of defendants to fair trial, and to freedom from arbitrary arrest or disappearance, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced labor, as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), will be significantly undermined. Although China is not a party to the ICCPR, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Basic Law and Bill of Rights incorporate the ICCPR into Hong Kong law and therefore these new regulations violate Hong Kong's obligations under its own domestic law and international law. 'There is a grave risk that Jimmy Lai could die in jail,' said Benedict Rogers. 'The international community, particularly the United Kingdom, has a responsibility to act urgently to secure his release. We urge world leaders to increase pressure on China to free Jimmy Lai, and to spell out the consequences for the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong if they refuse to do so.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The plight of Jimmy Lai shames us all
Dictatorships use solitary confinement as a form of torture, designed to break the prisoner's spirit. Under international law, 'prolonged solitary confinement' is defined as exceeding 15 days. British citizen and 77 year-old media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, in jail in Hong Kong, has now exceeded 1,600 days in solitary confinement, yet has committed no crime. He has already served several prison sentences on multiple trumped-up charges, including 13 months for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He is currently on trial under Hong Kong's draconian National Security Law, imposed by Beijing in 2020, and could face life imprisonment, simply for standing up for the human rights and democratic principles that China pledged to guarantee when it was handed control of Hong Kong from British rule. The authorities appear determined to drag his trial out for as long as possible. When it started at the end of 2023, it was due to last 30 days. Multiple adjournments have meant that closing submissions will not be heard until August this year and the verdict and sentencing may not come until the end of the year, making it a two-year trial process. This outrageous foot-dragging is designed to test the mental strength of Mr Lai, his family and his legal team. Despite widespread international condemnation, Mr Lai continues to be held in a tiny cell for more than 23 hours a day, deprived of natural light, and permitted less than an hour a day for physical exercise in a confined space. This is dehumanising and brutal treatment more often associated with 'maximum security prisons' for extremely violent offenders, while Mr Lai just lit a candle to commemorate a massacre that China has tried to erase from history, and exercised his freedom of expression by founding and publishing a successful newspaper. He is in jail for journalism, and for his opinions. Mr Lai, who is diabetic, has been denied access to independent medical care, and denied the right to his first choice of legal counsel, when British barrister Tim Owen KC was barred from representing him. His international legal team has received numerous outrageous threats. Even the right to receive Holy Communion has been restricted which, for Mr Lai as a devout Catholic, is a particularly poignant cruelty. Several governments around the world – including the United Kingdom, United States and Australia – have called for his release, as have the Canadian and European Parliaments. Five United Nations Special Rapporteurs – independent experts on freedom of expression, freedom of association, torture, the independence of judges and lawyers, and counter-terrorism and human rights – and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have expressed concerns about the case. But the key question is what is the British government actually doing to free its citizen? It is not that no one seems to care – plenty of sympathy and support has been expressed for Mr Lai's plight. The fact that both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have raised the case in their exchanges with China's leaders is welcome. A cross-departmental approach from the Government is the right strategy. But the important question is how was it raised? In passing, as a box-ticking exercise, or in a meaningful way? If Mr Lai dies in jail, what will be the consequences for China's relations with the United Kingdom, and have they been spelled out? It is time to turn sympathy into action, and words into meaningful measures. That is why an open letter to the prime minister last week by 22 former prisoners or relatives of former prisoners from around the world, asking him 'to do everything in your power to bring Jimmy Lai home', is so powerful and significant. Among the signatories are people whose own plight once looked dire. They include Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza and his wife Evgenia, former Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard, Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei who was jailed in China, Paul Rusebagina who was imprisoned in Rwanda and the former Soviet dissident For these reasons, they urge the United Kingdom to take urgent steps to secure Mr Lai's release, 'before it is too late'. They call on the prime minister to meet Mr Lai's family as a matter of urgency, and to take 'robust, principled, strategic action'. President Donald Trump has said that Mr Lai's case will be on the table in any US-China trade talks. The United Kingdom must be equally strategic in identifying what leverage it can use to free Mr Lai. It must make it clear to Beijing that Mr Lai's continued imprisonment – and the risk that he might die in jail – is not in the interests of either China or Hong Kong. Not if it wishes to remain a significant business partner. Other countries have been able to secure the release of their citizens from China. Australia worked hard to free Cheng Lai, as did Canada in the case of its citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and Ireland with the detention of businessman Richard O'Halloran. The United States spares no effort in securing the release of its citizens unjustly imprisoned abroad. Sir Keir Starmer therefore must step up to free Mr Lai. Mr Lai's name must be on the lips of every world leader, every diplomat, every journalist and every Parliamentarian until he is freed. He should never have been arrested in the first place, but after four and a half years of his detention in solitary confinement it is time to say clearly to Beijing: enough is enough. Free Jimmy Lai now. Benedict Rogers is Senior Director of Fortify Rights and a co-founder and trustee of Hong Kong Watch Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
The plight of Jimmy Lai shames us all
Dictatorships use solitary confinement as a form of torture, designed to break the prisoner's spirit. Under international law, 'prolonged solitary confinement' is defined as exceeding 15 days. British citizen and 77 year-old media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, in jail in Hong Kong, has now exceeded 1,600 days in solitary confinement, yet has committed no crime. He has already served several prison sentences on multiple trumped-up charges, including 13 months for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He is currently on trial under Hong Kong's draconian National Security Law, imposed by Beijing in 2020, and could face life imprisonment, simply for standing up for the human rights and democratic principles that China pledged to guarantee when it was handed control of Hong Kong from British rule. The authorities appear determined to drag his trial out for as long as possible. When it started at the end of 2023, it was due to last 30 days. Multiple adjournments have meant that closing submissions will not be heard until August this year and the verdict and sentencing may not come until the end of the year, making it a two-year trial process. This outrageous foot-dragging is designed to test the mental strength of Mr Lai, his family and his legal team. Despite widespread international condemnation, Mr Lai continues to be held in a tiny cell for more than 23 hours a day, deprived of natural light, and permitted less than an hour a day for physical exercise in a confined space. This is dehumanising and brutal treatment more often associated with 'maximum security prisons' for extremely violent offenders, while Mr Lai just lit a candle to commemorate a massacre that China has tried to erase from history, and exercised his freedom of expression by founding and publishing a successful newspaper. He is in jail for journalism, and for his opinions. Mr Lai, who is diabetic, has been denied access to independent medical care, and denied the right to his first choice of legal counsel, when British barrister Tim Owen KC was barred from representing him. His international legal team has received numerous outrageous threats. Even the right to receive Holy Communion has been restricted which, for Mr Lai as a devout Catholic, is a particularly poignant cruelty. Several governments around the world – including the United Kingdom, United States and Australia – have called for his release, as have the Canadian and European Parliaments. Five United Nations Special Rapporteurs – independent experts on freedom of expression, freedom of association, torture, the independence of judges and lawyers, and counter-terrorism and human rights – and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have expressed concerns about the case. But the key question is what is the British government actually doing to free its citizen? It is not that no one seems to care – plenty of sympathy and support has been expressed for Mr Lai's plight. The fact that both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have raised the case in their exchanges with China's leaders is welcome. A cross-departmental approach from the Government is the right strategy. But the important question is how was it raised? In passing, as a box-ticking exercise, or in a meaningful way? If Mr Lai dies in jail, what will be the consequences for China's relations with the United Kingdom, and have they been spelled out? It is time to turn sympathy into action, and words into meaningful measures. That is why an open letter to the prime minister last week by 22 former prisoners or relatives of former prisoners from around the world, asking him 'to do everything in your power to bring Jimmy Lai home', is so powerful and significant. Among the signatories are people whose own plight once looked dire. They include Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza and his wife Evgenia, former Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard, Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei who was jailed in China, Paul Rusebagina who was imprisoned in Rwanda and the former Soviet dissident For these reasons, they urge the United Kingdom to take urgent steps to secure Mr Lai's release, 'before it is too late'. They call on the prime minister to meet Mr Lai's family as a matter of urgency, and to take 'robust, principled, strategic action'. President Donald Trump has said that Mr Lai's case will be on the table in any US-China trade talks. The United Kingdom must be equally strategic in identifying what leverage it can use to free Mr Lai. It must make it clear to Beijing that Mr Lai's continued imprisonment – and the risk that he might die in jail – is not in the interests of either China or Hong Kong. Not if it wishes to remain a significant business partner. Other countries have been able to secure the release of their citizens from China. Australia worked hard to free Cheng Lai, as did Canada in the case of its citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and Ireland with the detention of businessman Richard O'Halloran. The United States spares no effort in securing the release of its citizens unjustly imprisoned abroad. Sir Keir Starmer therefore must step up to free Mr Lai. Mr Lai's name must be on the lips of every world leader, every diplomat, every journalist and every Parliamentarian until he is freed. He should never have been arrested in the first place, but after four and a half years of his detention in solitary confinement it is time to say clearly to Beijing: enough is enough. Free Jimmy Lai now.
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Performance art by South Ho makes a point about Hong Kong's red lines under security law
There were hoots of laughter as the artist South Ho Siu-nam performed his new live performance piece during the May 10 opening of his exhibition 'Wandering Daily' in Hong Kong. Wearing a pair of plain white, basic trainers laced up with different ends of the same 100-metre-long shoelace, Ho strutted around Blindspot Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang in faux military style, dragging a long trail of white string through the crowded room in his wake. It caused mild mayhem as members of the audience scuttled out of the way or became awkwardly entangled when they refused to budge. Me, My White Sneakers, and Shoelaces was Chaplinesque in its comedy and just as serious. This was an illustration of Hong Kong's reality since the introduction of National Security Law in 2020: there is still a lot you can do – the shoelace gave plenty of slack – but the line is always there. South Ho performs Me, My White Sneakers, and Shoelaces at Blindspot Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong, on May 10, 2025. Photo: Ray Leung courtesy of artist and Blindspot Gallery 'Wandering Daily' is his first solo Hong Kong show since 2019 and it is a quietly impassioned response to how socially engaged artists continue to stay true to their art despite the new red lines.
