Hong Kong national security law: foreign diplomats and Gafa resist

US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo Denounced China's “Orwellian” Act of “Censorship” After Hong Kong Government Orders Schools To Remove Books That May Violate National Security Law . Andrew Harnik / Pool via REUTERS

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Hong Kong will "vigorously" enforce national security law, the head of the local executive has warned, as voices continue to be raised to condemn her promulgation. Several Western powers have already taken action.  

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American Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo on Monday denounced an "  Orwellian  " act of "  censorship  " of China. "  The destruction by the Chinese Communist Party of a free Hong Kong continues,  " he said, condemning what he called "the  latest attacks on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong  ." The cause of this anger: Monday, the pro-Beijing government of the former British colony indeed asked the schools to "  examine the teaching materials, including the books  " and to "  withdraw them  " in the event of "  contents expired or may be similar to the four types of offense  "defined by the law on national security . A directive announced two days after the libraries said they would remove books from their shelves that could violate it.

The Hong Kong government between firmness and appeasement

On Tuesday, the chief executive of the Hong Kong government defended the new Chinese security law, which she promised to "vigorously apply", saying that it would restore stability to the territory. "  The consequences of violating this law are very serious,  " warned Carrie Lam. Oscillating between threats and reassuring words, she denied the fact that this law would threaten the freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kongers, believing that the text was not "  as dark as it seems for Hong Kong  ".  

Promulgated on Tuesday June 30 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, this law leads, according to his critics, to an unprecedented decline in freedoms since the United Kingdom of Hong Kong's surrender to China in 1997. The text adopted by the communist regime of Beijing aims to suppress subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, in response to the protest movement launched last year against the central government in the former British colony.

Western sanctions

For the United States as for other Western countries, it is a question of muzzle the opposition after the monster demonstrations of last year, which aimed to denounce the influence of the government. The US Congress passed a law Thursday to punish Chinese officials for applying the repressive new security rules against Hong Kong. The law will still have to be enacted by President Donald Trump to take effect.

For its part, the British government has decided to facilitate access to citizenship for Hong Kongers in reaction to the new Chinese security law. The Chinese ambassador in London reacted by accusing the United Kingdom of "  gross interference in  Chinese internal affairs ".

Canada has also taken a position on the new national security law. Since Canada does not have an extradition agreement with China, Hong Kong is now treated like the rest of the country and the application of the text is suspended. Justin Trudeau adding that his country "would  continue to support the Hong Kong people  ". China said it was "  very disappointed  " with Canada's decision.

►Also read: National Security Law: Testimonies of Hong Kongers in shock

GAFA positions itself, TikTok suspends its application

On the Gafa side too, the reactions were quick. The four global platforms Facebook, Google, Twitter and TikTok said their teams were closely examining the controversial new law. US companies Facebook, Google and Twitter confirmed on Monday that they are no longer responding to requests for information about their users from the government and authorities in Hong Kong, out of respect for freedom of expression.

The Facebook giant has also interrupted responses to requests for its WhatsApp messaging, which recalls that its end-to-end encryption protects the messages of 2 billion people worldwide every day. The former British colony returned to China has unlimited Internet access unlike mainland China, where these three services are blocked, for example.

And for its part, TikTok, very popular with young people, announced on Tuesday that it will outright suspend its service in Hong Kong in the coming days. The platform, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance, has often had to defend itself from its links with China, where its parent company has a similar application, under another name. She has always denied sharing data with the Chinese authorities and said that she did not intend to accept such requests.

Also to listen: The world in question - The end of democratic hopes in Hong Kong

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  • Hong Kong
  • China
  • United States
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Carrie Lam
  • GAFA
  • Facebook
  • Google

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