How Beijing's security law transformed Hong Kong in one short month

Within a fortnight, authorities have outlawed select protest phrases and arrested activists for allegedly inciting secession.

Once a vague spectre, national security legislation became a reality in Hong Kong last month when, in less than six weeks, Beijing imposed a law granting authorities sweeping powers to clamp down on dissent.

Drafted behind closed doors without local legislative input, the law ostensibly targets acts in the city deemed a threat to state security, including terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, following months of sometimes violent democracy protests.

With broad, catch-all provisions that encompass acts committed abroad and charges punishable with up to life imprisonment, the law has sent shivers down the spines of activists who fear it will chip away at the territory’s treasured civil liberties.

The move was welcomed by the pro-Beijing camp as heralding the return of social “stability,” but activists and nongovernmental organizations have warned it will spell the end of One Country, Two Systems.

Within a fortnight, local authorities have outlawed select protest phrases and arrested activists for allegedly inciting secession. Critics warned of a “chilling effect” as foreign governments, such as Australia and New Zealand, suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong; former lawmaker Nathan Law fled to the UK and Downing Street created a “lifeboat” citizenship scheme for British National (Overseas) passport holders looking to emigrate from Hong Kong.

As some 7 million residents wake up to a radical shift in the city’s political order, HKFP rounds up some of the key developments in Hong Kong as the new legislation was rolled out.