China releases policy paper on national security in Hong Kong after Jimmy Lai sentencing
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A prison van, believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai, leaves the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building following sentencing in his national security collusion trial in Hong Kong on Feb 9.
PHOTO: REUTERS
HONG KONG – China on Feb 10 released a policy White Paper on Hong Kong’s practice of safeguarding national security to ensure stability in a volatile world, emphasising Beijing has “fundamental responsibility” for national security affairs in the city.
This White Paper was released by China’s State Council, or Cabinet, a day after a Hong Kong court sentenced leading China critic and former media mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years imprisonment
Lai’s sentence, the heaviest so far under a China-imposed national security law, drew international criticism from the US, Britain, Taiwan, European Union, Japan and rights groups.
The UN rights chief Volker Turk “deplored” the sentence of the 78-year-old and said it was “incompatible with international law”.
The White Paper said Hong Kong would continue to improve its legal system to safeguard national security.
“Hong Kong, enjoying high-standard security, is bound to overcome all risks and challenges on the journey forward, and remain as steady as a rock in a turbulent world,” it read.
Hong Kong leader John Lee on Feb 10 welcomed the White Paper, saying the authorities needed to remain vigilant against national security risks.
He said Lai’s sentence sent a “solemn warning against malicious plots of collusion with external elements and endangering national security”.
Critics say the sweeping national security law has been used to clamp down on dissent
The White Paper, however, described this law as a “legal shield” that had “neutralised this major threat” and restored order.
The paper added that Hong Kong’s practice of safeguarding national security had “consolidated the security foundation” of the city’s “one country, two systems” governance model and “further enriched China’s national security system”.
Such white papers on Hong Kong are released periodically by China, outlining Beijing’s latest policy stance towards the China-ruled city that returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
The previous White Paper in 2021 outlined Hong Kong’s democratic development after a revamp of the electoral system to ensure only “patriots” could run for public office – a move criticised by some countries as an erosion of democratic freedoms by marginalising opposition democrats. REUTERS
