Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam offered scant reassurance Tuesday over a new national security law that critics say undermines liberties and legal protections promised when China took control of the former British colony.
A year ago, Hong Kong residents felt secure enough in their freedoms under the territory's "one-country, two-systems" regime to bring their children to mass protests. Now, after the June 30 implementation of the security law, some are worrying they might be punished for what they post in their Facebook or Twitter accounts.
Lam, the city's Beijing-backed chief executive, said Tuesday the work of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security she chairs, which oversees enforcement of the law, will not be made public. So implementation rules giving police sweeping powers to enforce it won't be subject to judicial review.
Critics see the security law as Beijing's boldest move yet to erase the divide between Hong Kong's western-style system and the mainland's authoritarian way of governing. Individuals who post such messages may also be asked to remove the message, or face similar fines and a jail term of one year. "Until now, Hong Kong flourished because it allowed free thinking and free speech, under an independent rule of law. No more," Pompeo said in a statement.
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