A woman walks past a screen broadcasting a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 30, 2020 in Beijing. - Mark Schiefelbein / AP / SIPA

China has rushed through its controversial national security law in Hong Kong, which has been condemned by several countries. The law, which was passed on Tuesday by Chinese President Xi Jinping himself, is "a sword" hanging over the heads of those who threaten national security, the communist regime warned.

"For members of the small minority who threaten national security, this law will be a sword hanging over their heads," the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Bureau said in a statement a few hours after the adoption of the text. The controversial law will come into effect at the end of the day on Tuesday, Hong Kong executive chief Carrie Lam said.

A law imposed in a few weeks

It is widely seen as a reaction to the massive protests that rocked the financial metropolis last year. Beijing sees it as a way to restore stability and prosperity in Hong Kong. "For the vast majority of the inhabitants of Hong Kong (...) the law is a guardian angel who defends their freedoms", according to the same press release.

The text plans to punish separatist, "terrorist" activities, subversion, or even foreign interference in the Chinese autonomous territory. Ignoring the calls of Western countries, the national parliament voted this historic text which comes a year after the start of the monster demonstrations in the former British colony against the influence of the central government. Scalded by these events, Beijing will have imposed this law in just a few weeks, which bypasses the local legislative council and makes the Hong Kong opposition fear an unprecedented decline in freedoms since the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

The unknown final text

For the Hong Kong opposition and for several Western countries, this law constitutes an attack on the autonomy and freedoms of the territory. "This marks the end of Hong Kong as the world knew it," said Joshua Wong, one of the figures in the pro-democracy movement, on Twitter. “The city will transform into a #decreetpolicestate. The Demosisto party, which it founded with other activists in 2014, immediately announced its dissolution. This training called in particular for self-determination of the territory - a position that could potentially fall under the scope of the new text.

The European Union (EU) "deplored" the adoption of the text. "This law risks seriously undermining Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and having a detrimental effect on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law," said European Council President Charles Michel. . The G7 foreign ministers (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) also called in June to reconsider this project. Anticipating the vote, Washington announced Monday the end of sales of sensitive defense equipment to Hong Kong to avoid "falling into the hands" of the Chinese army. Beijing on Tuesday promised "reprisals".

Difficult for the moment to know the real consequences of the text voted Tuesday: its final content has not yet been published. "The fact that the people of Hong Kong will not know until after the fact what this new law actually contains is truly absurd," said Claudia Mo, a local opposition parliamentarian.

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