Friday, April 17, 2026

UK sets out Hong Kong ‘path to citizenship’ plan

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UK sets out Hong Kong ‘path to citizenship’ plan

Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel | Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

Nearly three million people could be eligible for the scheme.

LONDON — The U.K.’s plan to offer a “path to citizenship” for British Nationals Overseas in Hong Kong — should China persist with plans to impose a new security law on the territory — could extend to nearly three million people, the Home Office indicated.

Home Secretary Priti Patel reiterated on Friday that if China imposed the national security law, the U.K. would “explore options to allow British Nationals Overseas to apply for leave to stay in the U.K., including a path to citizenship.”

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday said the U.K. would allow British Nationals Overseas (BNO) passport holders to come to the country for an extendable period of 12 months, lifting the current six month cap.

Passport holders would be able to  “apply to work and study for extendable periods of 12 months,” Raab said.

The U.K. Home Office estimates there are 349,881 holders of BNO passports, but clarified in a factsheet published Friday that in total there are “around 2.9m BN(O)s currently in Hong Kong” who would be eligible for a BNO passport.

A U.K. government spokesperson also confirmed that the offer extended to the children and dependents of BNO citizens.

China responded angrily to the original offer to passport holders. According to the BBC, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “All such BNO passport holders are Chinese nationals and if the U.K. insists on changing this practice it will not only violate its own stance but also international law.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed Hong Kong in a call with Donald Trump on Friday, Downing Street said.

“The leaders said that China’s plan to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong goes against their obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and would undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy and the One Country Two Systems framework,” a spokesperson said.

A YouGov poll on Friday — highlighted by Raab on his Twitter feed — found that the British public support the offer to BNO passport holders, with 42 percent backing the move and 24 percent opposed.



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The Latest Photos As Protests Continue Over George Floyd’s Death

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The Latest Photos As Protests Continue Over George Floyd’s Death

Protests continued Friday over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck.

Some photos from the Twin Cities show protestors peacefully demonstrating, demanding justice for Floyd’s death. Other photos show fires that destroyed a police stationhouse and businesses.

See the latest photos from the protests below. 

Protestors demonstrate on University Avenue while holding a “WE CAN’T BREATHE” sign and wearing protective masks, Thursday, in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Protestors demonstrate outside of a burning fast food restaurant, Friday, in Minneapolis.

A protestor takes a picture of a demonstration from the roof of the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct, Thursday, in Minneapolis.

Protestors set a shop on fire on Thursday during the third day of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

A police officer aims a tear gas gun at protesters on Thursday in St. Paul.

Alex Conway, left, and Bekka Koch hold signs outside the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct on Thursday.

A protester confronts a police officer while standing on a destroyed cruiser on Thursday in St. Paul.

A protestor douses her face with milk after being exposed to tear gas fired by police on Thursday in St. Paul. 

A protestor faces off with two police officers using less-lethal ammunition in their weapons, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in St.



A protestor faces off with two police officers using less-lethal ammunition in their weapons, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in St. Paul, Minn. Protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody Monday, broke out in Minneapolis for a third straight night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A protestor faces off with two police officers using less-lethal ammunition in their weapons on Thursday in St. Paul. 

A man rides a bicycle past a burned out building after a night of protests and violence on Friday in Minneapolis.

A group of protesters gather outside the home of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on Thursday in Minneapolis.



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Amy Klobuchar Defends Record As A Prosecutor After George Floyd’s Death

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Amy Klobuchar Defends Record As A Prosecutor After George Floyd’s Death

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) defended her record as a prosecutor on Friday following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck.

Floyd, 46, died on Monday after a police officer pinned him to the street while he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” The moment was captured on video, prompting a nationwide outcry and violent demonstrations in the city of Minneapolis. On Thursday, police were forced to abandon a precinct station after protesters stormed it and set the building on fire.

Law enforcement authorities announced on Friday the officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck had been placed in custody.

“There should be charges,” Klobuchar, a former Hennepin County prosecutor, said on MSNBC shortly before the announcement. “I hope that we will see swift justice in this case. … this is right in front of our eyes.”

The senator added there ought to be a “large scale investigation of what has been going on at the Minneapolis Police Department.”

Floyd’s death has again raised questions about Klobuchar’s record as a prosecutor in the state ― where she was known for her tough-on-crime approach ― as Vice President Joe Biden considers potential 2020 running mates. 

According to The Washington Post, Klobuchar chose not to bring charges against officers in more than two dozen cases in which people died in encounters with police, instead handing the decision to grand juries, which tend to side with officers.

Klobuchar said on MSNBC that while the practice of referring cases to a grand jury was common at the time, she thinks “that was wrong now.”

But she said it is “absolutely false” that she declined to prosecute Derek Chauvin, the officer at the center of Floyd’s death, for a police shooting that took place in 2006 in which Chauvin and five other officers shot and killed a man who they said aimed a shotgun at them. Klobuchar said the case went to a grand jury after she had left her Hennepin County office and was elected to the Senate.

The Hennepin County prosecutor’s office also issued a statement on Friday saying Klobuchar had “no involvement” in the prosecution of the 2006 case.

Asked on MSNBC whether she should withdraw from consideration as Biden’s running mate over the matter, Klobuchar said the decision was up to the former vice president.

“Since I’ve got into the Senate, I’ve been one of the leaders in terms of pushing for sentencing reform. That’s my record. And Joe Biden will decide who he wants in this job,” Klobuchar said.

This post was updated with more information from the Hennepin County prosecutor’s office.



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Ex-officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck charged with murder

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Ex-officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck charged with murder

  • The fired officer who knelt on George Floyd’s knelt for several minutes as Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe”, has been taken into custody. No charges have been announced.

  • Protests erupted in cities across the US over the deadly arrest of Floyd, an unarmed black man, who was pinned to the ground by the knee of a white officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

  • Protesters rallied in Minneapolis for a third night on Thursday into Friday, with some demonstrators overtaking a police building and setting it on fire. 

  • The Minnesota National Guard has arrived in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding areas. 

  • Twitter hid Trump’s tweet criticising the protesters and Minneapolis’s handling of the protests as a violation of its policy on glorifying violence. 

Here are the latest updates: 

Friday, May 29

18:00 GMT – US politicians call officer’s arrest ‘first step’

17:50 GMT – Officials confirm arrest of fired Minneapolis police officer 

The Minneapolis police officer shown in videotape footage pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed, unarmed black man has been arrested in the death of that man, a spokesman for the Hennepin County attorney said.

The county attorney planned to hold a news conference later on at 1 p.m. Central time to announce the arrest and new developments in the investigation into the death of George Floyd, 46, according to spokesman, Chuck Laszewski. He said the officer, Derek Chauvin, was under arrest but that formal charges had yet to be filed. (Reporting by Carlo Barria in Milwaukee; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles)

17:20 GMT – Fired officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck taken into custody, local media report 

According to local media, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has taken into custody former officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for several minutes before the black man went motionless.  

No criminal charges have been filed as of yet.

16:50 GMT – Obama: This shouldn’t be the normal in America 

Former President Barack Obama issued a statement on Floyd’s killing via Twitter. Obama cited conversations with friends in recent days, including one with an African American business owner who said Floyd’s killing “hurt” to watch.

While it’s “natural” for people to want things to return to normal, Obama said, “we have to remember that for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal’.”

“This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in America. It can’t be ‘normal.’ If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better,” Obama said.

16:05 GMT – National Guard arrives in Minneapolis 

Members of the Minnesota National Guard arrived in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul areas. The National Guards said about 500 members would be activated to the area. 

Armoured vehicles are pictured as National Guard members guard an area in Minneapolis, Minnesota [Carlos Barria/Reuters] [Daylife]

George Floyd

A man reacts as he confronts National Guard members guarding an area in Minneapolis, Minnesota [Carlos Barria/Reuters] 

16:00 GMT – NABJ calls arrest of CNN journalist ‘unfathomable’

The on-air arrest of CNN journalist Omar Jimenez, who is Black, was condemned by Dorothy Tucker, president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

“It is unfathomable and upsetting to witness this structural racism in real time. We are closely monitoring this situation,” Tucker said in a tweet. 

Local NABJ chapter head Nicole Norfleet reached out to Jimenez to offer support. 

15:30 GMT – Minnesota governor apologises for CNN arrests, says there will be swift justice for Floyd 

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he expects “swift” justice for George Floyd. 

“It is my expectation that justice for the officers involved in this will be swift, that it will come in a timely manner, that it will be fair,” Swift said. “That is what we’ve asked for. I have been in contact with Hennepin County attorney, and I am confident that those very things I just said will happen.” 

Prosecutors have been criticised for taking more than three days to announce a decision on charges against the officers. 

Walz also publicly apologised for the arrest of a CNN crew. 

14:20 GMT – Biden ‘furious’ about Trump tweet

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said on Twitter that he was “furious” about Trump’s tweet glorifying violence against protesters in Minneapolis.

“I will not lift the President’s tweet,” the former vice president said. “I will not give him that amplification. But he is calling for violence against American citizens during a moment of pain for so many. I’m furious, and you should be too.”

Biden said he would speak later on Friday about the protests. 

14:15 GMT – US first lady calls for peace

Striking a noticeably different tone from her husband, US First Lady Melania Trump tweeted her condolences to the family of George Floyd and called for peace.

“Our country allows for peaceful protests, but there is no reason for violence,” she said. “I’ve seen our citizens unify & take care of one another through COVID19 & we can’t stop now. My deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd. As a nation, let’s focus on peace, prayers & healing.”

13:10 GMT – Minnesota attorney general says charges are likely

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says he expects “there will be charges” against the police officers involved in Floyd’s deadly arrest.

“We are standing by and helping any way we can,” Ellison told CNN. “I anticipate there will be charges. I hope they’re soon. But that is the prerogative of another prosecuting authority. They are trying to be careful. They are trying to make sure their case is strong and airtight.”

12:00 GMT – Brother of George Floyd: ‘I just want justice’

Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, says he just wants justice.

Philonise said the protesters “have the same pain that I feel”.

“I want everybody to be peaceful right now but people are torn and hurt because they’re tired of seeing black men die constantly, over and over again,” Philonise told CNN.

“I understand and I see why a lot of people are doing a lot of different things around the world. I don’t want them to lash out like that, but I can’t stop people right now. Because they have pain. They have the same pain that I feel. I want everything to be peaceful, but I can’t make everybody be peaceful. I can’t. It’s hard.”

Read more here.

11:00 GMT – Twitter flags and hides Trump’s tweet that ‘glorified violence’

Twitter has, for the first time, flagged and hidden a tweet by  Trump, saying he violated Twitter’s rules about glorifying violence.

Trump took to Twitter on Friday, saying “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”, in reference to nationwide protests that followed the deadly arrest of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in Minneapolis.

Twitter flagged the second tweet with a disclaimer, saying: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible,” allowing the public to still view the tweet by clicking on “View”.

Read more here.

09:00 GMT - Protests over deadly arrest rock US’s Minneapolis

Protests erupted across the United States on Thursday night as anger over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, intensified, with some demonstrators gaining access to a police precinct in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and setting sections of the building on fire. 

Protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis

Protesters set a shop on fire during the third day of demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis [EPA]

A protester reacts while gathering with others outside the city hall in Minneapolis

A protester reacts while gathering with others outside the city hall [Carlos Barria/Reuters]

Minneapolis

People gather outside the Hennepin County Government Center to protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, arrested by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota [Eric Miller/Reuters] 

Read more here. 

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the protests in the United States over the deadly arrest of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath in Louisville, Kentucky, and Creede Newton in Washington, DC. 

Here are a few things to get caught up: 

  • George Floyd, unarmed 46-year-old Black man, died on Monday after a white officer used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck down to the ground for several minutes. Floyd can be heard on a bystander video repeatedly pleading with officers, saying “I can’t breathe.” He eventually goes motionless with the officer’s knee still on his neck. (You can read about the deadly incident here.)

  • The four officers involved in the incident were fired, but prosecutors have not made a decision on charges, angering Floyd’s family, community leaders and residents. 

  • Protests erupted across Minneapolis on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. While they have started peacefully, they have descended into chaos and fires. There have been reports of looting and vandalism. 

  • Protesters on Thursday gained access to the Minneapolis third precinct police building, setting it on fire. A state of emergency has been declared and the National Guard activated. 

  • Protests have also gripped other parts of the US, including New York City, Louisville, Kentucky, Denver, Colorado and Oakland, California. More protests are scheduled for the weekend. 



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Love Letter: Should You Text Your Ex?

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Love Letter: Should You Text Your Ex?

Quarantine life has left us yearning for human connection, so it’s no surprise that exes have turned to texts as a means of reconnecting. Some in hopes of reconciliation, others to stave off boredom. In this week’s Modern Love essay, the writer Max McDonough finds himself baffled yet intrigued by the onslaught of text messages from former partners since the start of the pandemic.

[Like this newsletter? Sign up here to receive it in your inbox!]

And, finally, when stay-at-home orders threatened to upend their plans of a hotel wedding in Austin, Texas, two brides, Lindsey Leaverton and Bri Houk, quickly shifted plans and organized a socially distanced celebration — in just 17 days — at the Doc’s Drive-In Theatre in Buda, Texas. Their friends and family, clad in pajamas at the request of the couple, watched on the big screens from the comfort of their cars. Who doesn’t love a happy ending?

Stay safe and watch out for those exes.

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McConnell Says Next Coronavirus Aid Bill Will Be The Last

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McConnell Says Next Coronavirus Aid Bill Will Be The Last

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he does not supporting extending additional unemployment benefits that run out at the end of July.

Patrick Semansky/AP


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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he does not supporting extending additional unemployment benefits that run out at the end of July.

Patrick Semansky/AP

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he expects Senate Republicans will begin considering proposals for a “fourth and final” coronavirus response bill to address the needs of the country “in about a month.”

McConnell said the bill will be narrowly crafted and will focus in particular on jobs and schools. He said there could be funding for small businesses and health care, but he will not support extending the additional $600 per week in federal unemployment benefits that run out at the end of July.

“Unemployment insurance is extremely important, but it is not designed to encourage you to stay home; it is designed to get you through a trough until you can get back to work,” McConnell said. “I think you can certainly assume we will not be paying people a bonus for staying home in another bill.”

Speaking at an event in his home state of Kentucky, McConnell said Congress needs more time to assess the needs of the country before voting on another costly aid package.

“We need to push the pause button here and think through the next step and do it very carefully,” McConnell said. “We do have the potential long-term health of the country with this level of massive debt.”

Democrats have criticized GOP leaders for refusing to open negotiations on the next round of relief. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on McConnell to cancel upcoming committee hearings related to the 2016 election and focus instead on the coronavirus response.

“Watching our Republican colleagues over the last few weeks, you’d never know that the nation is in the midst of crisis,” Schumer said in a letter to Senate Democrats. “As unemployment claims reach their highest levels since the Great Depression, Senate Republicans have decided to ‘hit the pause button.’ “

McConnell has generally ignored calls for further negotiations on coronavirus aid until this week. In his Friday remarks, McConnell did not rule out the possibility of including some money for state and local governments but pointed out that Congress had already approved significant funds for them.

The only proposal McConnell explicitly endorsed was a plan to include liability protections for businesses, individuals, nonprofits and schools. Republicans have insisted they need to protect people from the threat of litigation who are doing their best to comply with regulations related to COVID-19. He detailed that the provision would cover the time period between December and go through 2024 – “a narrowly crafted liability protection for this disease.”

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Iraq registers dramatic jump in COVID-19 cases

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Iraq registers dramatic jump in COVID-19 cases

May 29, 2020

Iraq registered more than 400 positive COVID-19 tests today, its highest ever total in a single day.

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 416 infections today. The number included a whopping 265 in the capital Baghdad. There were other cases in the south, the Kurdistan Region and throughout the country, according to the ministry.

The figure was the highest ever in a single day in Iraq, according to the Iraqi Kurdish news outlet Rudaw. Dr. Ali al-Bayati, a medical doctor and member of the quasi-governmental Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, confirmed to Al-Monitor the figure is Iraq’s highest yet.

The large number of infections is the latest in a series of setbacks for Iraq as it fights the virus. Parts of Iraq first went under a series of lockdowns in April. Non-essential businesses were closed and civilian movement was restricted to acquiring necessities. The lockdown started to ease in March.

More recently, Iraqi authorities re-imposed lockdowns in parts of Baghdad last week following 150 cases being registered in a day, including 120 in Baghdad. Iraq also experienced a jump with 163 new cases during the Eid al-Fitr holiday. The figures today thus constitute a significant increase in the rate at which the novel coronavirus is spreading.

Bayati believes authorities can do more to mitigate the virus’ spread. He said there should be more sterilizing of public places and hospitals as well as continued closures of schools, religious facilities and recreational centers. He also said low-income Iraqis need assistance acquiring the necessary protective gear.

He called for mask to be provided “free of charge through ration cards for poor families,” while saying middle and upper-income Iraqis could purchase them for “limited prices.”

Many Iraqis are practicing social distancing, though some large gatherings continue in the country, including anti-government protests.



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Obama Responds To George Floyd’s Death: ‘This Shouldn’t Be Normal’

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Obama Responds To George Floyd’s Death: ‘This Shouldn’t Be Normal’

Former President Barack Obama on Friday spoke out against the death of George Floyd, saying he shares the same anguish that millions of other Americans feel.

“This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America,” Obama said in a statement. “It can’t be ‘normal.’ If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better.”

Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, died Monday after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the street with his knee. Floyd repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” The incident was captured on video and has since sparked nationwide outrage.

“It’s natural to wish for life ‘to just get back to normal’ as a pandemic and economic crisis upend everything around us,” Obama said. “But we have to remember that for millions of Americans being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal’ — whether it’s while dealing with the health care system, or interacting with the criminal justice system, or jogging down the street, or just watching birds in a park.”

The last two examples he shared appear to reference Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man shot and killed by two white men while jogging in February, and Christian Cooper, the Black man who was bird-watching when a white woman called the cops on him this week.

The Minneapolis Police Department has fired the four officers involved in Floyd’s death. Derek Chauvin, the officer who pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck, was arrested Friday.

The case is in the hands of Minnesota authorities, Obama said, but there’s work that all Americans need to do. 

“[I]t falls on all of us,” he said, “regardless of our race or station — including the majority of men and women in law enforcement who take pride in doing their tough job the right way, every day — to work together to create a ‘new normal’ in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts.”



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Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner: George Floyd’s Death Was ‘A Murder’

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Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner: George Floyd’s Death Was ‘A Murder’

A top law enforcement official in Minnesota on Friday declared George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police “a murder,” while four days later, prosecutors have still yet to charge the police officers involved in Floyd’s death.

“We’ll call it a murder. That’s what it looked like to me,” Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said at a press conference with state officials Friday. “I don’t want to prejudice this from a criminal perspective, but I’m just calling it what I see it.”

The four officers involved in Floyd’s death Monday were fired Tuesday, and on Friday afternoon, Harrington announced that one of the officers had been taken into custody. Protesters in Minneapolis have taken to the streets for three consecutive nights, and similar demonstrations have taken place in cities across the country.

On Friday, Gov. Tim Walz urged “swift justice,” saying he is in close contact with the Hennepin County Attorney’s office, which said Thursday that it’s still investigating the incident, despite the gruesome video that captured the incident and has been viewed widely around the world.

Floyd’s family has publicly called for charges.

“These guys need to be arrested, convicted of murder and given the death penalty,” Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, told CNN Thursday. “They need to. They took my brother’s life. He will never get that back. I will never see him again. My family will never see him again. His kids will never see him again.”



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China to Offer ‘Guidance, Support’ to Hong Kong Police Enforcing Security Law

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China to Offer ‘Guidance, Support’ to Hong Kong Police Enforcing Security Law

China’s public security ministry has said it will offer ‘guidance and support’ to Hong Kong’s police force, in another sign that the city’s status as a separate legal jurisdiction is likely at an end.

Public security minister Zhao Kezhi told a recent high-level meeting that his ministry would have a role in implementing a national security law for Hong Kong now in the pipeline, in spite of a legal ban on Chinese government departments’ involvement in the city’s internal affairs.

Zhao, cited in China’s state-run Legal Daily newspaper, said his ministry would “provide full guidance and support to the Hong Kong Police Force to stop violence and restore order, and resolutely maintain Hong Kong’s security and stability” in the wake of months of anti-government protests in the city.

His comments came after the National People’s Congress ratified a plan to impose a draconian sedition law on Hong Kong without going through the city’s own legislature; a dramatic departure from the promised “high degree of autonomy” promised to Hong Kong under the terms of the 1997 handover.

Barrister and veteran democracy campaigner Martin Lee, who founded Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, told RFA that the promise that Hong Kong people would rule Hong Kong was now dead in the water.

“It’s not the people of Hong Kong ruling Hong Kong, but the Chinese central government, the Chinese Communist Party,” Lee said. “There is no more ‘one country, two systems’; it’s just under Beijing’s control.”

Lee cited earlier comments from Chinese officials dismissing references to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, a U.N.-registered treaty setting out China’s promises to Hong Kong after the handover on July 1, 1997.

“Back in the day, the British handed over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, but now they’re saying the Joint Declaration serves no purpose and they’re not going to pay any attention to it,” he said.

Much like a character in Wong Kar-wai’s 1992 movie Chungking Express, Lee said he once had his sights set on California as a destination.

“How could I face people if I left?” he said. Later, he learned that Beijing wanted him to leave Hong Kong.

Direct control a top priority

Hong Kong political commentator Liu Ruishao said the setting up by Beijing of a semi-official new Hong Kong and Macau leadership working group meant that the direct control of Hong Kong is now a top priority for President Xi Jinping’s administration.

“[This working group] is a semi-official way of exerting a great deal of psychological pressure [on Hong Kong],” Liu said.

Bruce Lui, journalism lecturer at Hong Kong’s Baptist University, said the group would act as a central command and control structure overseeing public order in Hong Kong.

“Xi Jinping is now trying to ensure that his allies are more powerful in the current system,” Lui said.

“By upgrading what was previously just a coordinating group to a leadership group, he is letting the various departments know that this is a top priority for the central government.”

“And it’s not just about Hong Kong itself; the national security law is being placed into a context of a struggle between China and foreign [forces],” he said.

Beijing on Thursday ratified a plan to impose draconian sedition and subversion legislation on Hong Kong that would enable its feared state security police to operate in the city, which was promised the continuation of its traditional freedoms under the 1997 handover to China.

The rubber-stamp NPC passed the proposal by 2,878 “votes” to 1, with six abstentions, paving the way for the powerful NPC standing committee to draft the legislation and insert it into Hong Kong law without going through the city’s own legislature.

In a move that likely signals the end of Hong Kong’s promised autonomy and traditional freedoms of speech and association, the ruling Chinese Communist Party says the law is needed owing to “notable national security risks” following months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

‘Prevent, stop, punish’

Introducing the proposal on May 21, NPC vice chairman Wang Chen said “forceful measures must be taken to prevent, stop, and punish such activities.”

Under the terms of the handover, Hong Kong was expected to bring in legislation banning acts of “treason, secession, sedition [or] subversion,” but city-wide protests and the likelihood of a pro-democracy landslide at Legislative Council (LegCo) elections in September have led Beijing to conclude that this might not occur for some time.

An earlier version of the law was shelved following mass popular protests in 2003.

The law is also intended “to prohibit foreign political organizations from conducting political activities in Hong Kong, and to prohibit political organizations from establishing ties with foreign political organizations,” according to state media.

The decision will enable the authorities to “prevent, stop and punish” any activities deemed by Beijing to be subversive, or instigated by “foreign forces.”

Such legislation has been used in mainland China to accuse journalists of spying, or to punish peaceful critics of the regime.

When needed, state security police from mainland China will set up shop in Hong Kong to fulfill their duties under the new law, according to a precis of the decision supplied by Xinhua.

Reported by Tseng Yat-yiu and Lu Xi for RFA’s Cantonese and Mandarin Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.



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