Why Hong Kong Passed the Article 23 National Security Law

A long-shelved security law that once kindled fear of eroding rights and galvanized Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement has made a successful comeback. The city’s lawmakers unanimously passed local legislation to protect the Chinese state on March 19. That marked a long-awaited victory for the authorities, whose 2003 attempt to make the law prompted the largest demonstrations the former British colony had seen since it returned to Chinese rule.

Those protests became an annual tradition drawing tens of thousands of democracy advocates and helping opposition parties raise funds. That stopped only after Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020, silencing dissent and wiping out many activist groups, including the one coordinating the annual march. Approval of the new domestic security legislation wasn’t in doubt as the government took steps to ensure only “patriots” could be lawmakers.