SHANGHAI • China's public security ministry pledged to "direct and support" the Hong Kong police after the national Parliament in Beijing approved a decision to craft a national security law for the semi-autonomous territory.

The ministry's move highlights Beijing's intention to take a more hands-on law-enforcement role in the city.

China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) - which includes the national police force - would use "all efforts to direct and support the Hong Kong police to stop violence and restore order", it said in a statement released late on Thursday.

Hong Kong's police force is independent from China and the MPS currently has no enforcement powers in the former British colony.

"This is the clearest indication yet that the Ministry of Public Security will have the authority to supervise Hong Kong police in matters of national security," said Associate Professor Alfred Wu of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

China says the national security law will aim to tackle secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in Hong Kong, with details expected to be drawn up in the coming weeks.

The new legislation will enable Beijing to establish intelligence agencies in Hong Kong, including a domestic intelligence agency potentially involving the MPS and the Ministry of State Security, China's main intelligence agency.

Beijing is imposing the national security legislation on Hong Kong after losing patience with the city's inability to enact such laws on its own, which Hong Kong is required to do under the terms of its 1997 handover from British to Chinese rule.

The MPS statement called for "striking a severe blow against infiltration, subversion and sabotage by hostile forces at home and abroad" and for "conscientiously studying and implementing" the Chinese Parliament's decision on Hong Kong.

REUTERS