Hong Kong authorities unveiled their draft new national security law on Friday March 8, which provides for offenses such as treason and insurrection, punishable by life imprisonment.

This text must complement the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 after the major pro-democracy demonstrations of 2019 in Hong Kong.

It lists five new categories of offenses in addition to those punished by the 2020 text: treason, insurrection, espionage, sabotage and foreign interference.

The bill proposes that treason, insurrection, sabotage endangering national security and inciting members of the Chinese military to rebel should be punishable by life imprisonment.

The text also plans to broaden the notion of “sedition” – which dates from the British colonial era – to disaffection with the communist leadership and the Chinese socialist system.

He also proposes to punish crimes of “sedition” more heavily, by increasing the maximum sentence from two to seven years.

Under the bill, Hong Kong authorities will be able to ask a court to detain a person without charge for up to sixteen days and prohibit them from consulting a lawyer during their period of detention.

Like the 2020 text, this new national security law would apply to alleged offenses committed abroad.

“General consensus”

The text also proposes adopting a new definition of "state secrets" - covering not only technology, but also "major political decisions" and the economic and social development of the city" - and also criminalizes the acquisition and possession of this type of information.

The Hong Kong authorities revealed the content of this new bill following a month of public consultations ending on February 28.

This will be presented Friday morning before the city's Legislative Council (LegCo).

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said there was a "general consensus" among Hong Kongers that the law should be passed "as soon as possible."

Nearly 99% of the 13,000 people questioned during public consultations expressed their support for the creation of this new law, according to the Hong Kong authorities.

Journalists' associations, human rights organizations, foreign companies and diplomats have for their part expressed their serious concerns about this text, fearing that it will further restrict freedom of expression.

With AFP

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