Made-in-China Law Keeps Hong Kong Guessing Whether It’s Guilty
- Broadly worded legislation easy to abuse, difficult to apply
- Uneasy blend of Chinese crimes and Common Law system
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Chinese officials have described Hong Kong’s new national security law as “tailor-made” for the former British colony. Lawyers in the city, however, say the statute may be open to abuse and difficult to apply.
The 35-page legislation drafted behind closed doors in Beijing represents an uneasy marriage between China’s “socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics” and the common law preserved in Hong Kong after the British left in 1997. Key provisions against terrorism, secession, subversion of state power and collusion with foreign forces feature the harsh sentences -- as long as life in prison -- and sweeping wording of similar offenses on the mainland.