China has opened a new office for its security agents to operate openly in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, China:
China opened a new office on Wednesday for its intelligence agents to openly operate in Hong Kong for the first time under a new strict security law, as part of a public demonstration of its tighter control of the financial center .
The new base is located in a quickly converted hotel overlooking the city’s Victoria Park, a place that has hosted pro-democracy protests for years, including an annual vigil marking the deadly crackdown on Tiananmen in Beijing.
A plaque bearing the name of the security agency was unveiled on Wednesday to the Hong Kong government and officials from the mainland, including Beijing’s main envoy to the city and the commander of the Chinese army barracks in Hong. Kong.
The police blocked the roads around the old Metropark Hotel and surrounded it with barriers filled with water. A Chinese flag was displayed on a pole erected outside the building while a plaque bearing the national emblem was raised during the night.
City chief Carrie Lam – a person named pro-Beijing – hailed the opening as “a historic moment” and said the Chinese intelligence apparatus would be an “important partner” to help safeguard national security .
Beijing imposed a new security law in Hong Kong last week, targeting acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and foreign collusion in response to huge and often violent democratic protests that erupted last year.
The law is the most radical change in Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy since Britain returned the city to China in 1997.
Similar national security laws are used to crush dissent on the mainland, and Hong Kong police have already arrested people for expressing political views that are now deemed illegal, such as the defense of independence or the rule of law. ‘autonomy.
Security device spear tip
The content of the security law was kept secret until its enactment last Tuesday, bypassing the Hong Kong legislature.
China has said it will have jurisdiction over the most serious cases, overturning the legal firewall that has existed between its party-controlled courts and the independent judiciary of Hong Kong since the transfer.
Among the many revolutionary provisions contained in the law is the authorization for Chinese security agents to work openly in Hong Kong, with the power to investigate and prosecute national security crimes.
Until now, the Hong Kong police and judiciary have been fully responsible for the semi-autonomous financial center.
But China maintains that national security is the responsibility of the central government and says laws are necessary to restore stability. He described the law as a “sword” hanging over the heads of critics.
On the authoritarian continent, the Chinese secret police are the spearhead of a highly efficient and unforgiving security apparatus that pursues criticism and rubs the public sphere of dissent.
New boss
Little is known about the new security office beyond its management.
Last week, Beijing appointed Zheng Yanxiong to head the agency. A fervent supporter of the party and a speaker of the Cantonese Hong Kong dialect, Zheng is best known for his involvement in suppressing protests across the border in the neighboring province of Guangdong.
At the ceremony on Wednesday, Zheng said the agency would “strengthen our working liaison and coordination” with mainland bodies already present in the city, including the local garrison of the People’s Liberation Army.
Its two deputies have been appointed. The first is Li Jiangzhou, a public security veteran who worked at the Liaison Office, the agency that represents Beijing in Hong Kong.
Little is known about the second deputy, Sun Qingye. Last week, the South China Morning Post described Sun as a senior official of the Chinese intelligence agency, government sources said.
Beijing’s new security law says office workers are exempt from Hong Kong laws while on duty.
The opening of the new office comes just over a day after Hong Kong announced the expansion of search and surveillance powers for police investigating national security crimes.
The new rules also allow the Hong Kong police to order notices of withdrawal from the Internet if the publications and comments are deemed to harm national security.
Crowds of American tech giants, including Facebook, Google and Microsoft, said they had stopped considering Hong Kong government’s requests for user information because of the new law.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
