China’s top legislative body has taken up a draft national security law for Hong Kong that has been strongly criticised as undermining the semi-autonomous territory’s legal and political institutions (Kin Cheung/AP)China plans to establish a bureau in Hong Kong to investigate and prosecute crimes considered threatening to national security. The proposal forms part of a new national security law which Beijing is imposing upon the semi-autonomous territory. In addition, bodies in all Hong Kong government departments, from finance to immigration, will be directly answerable to the central government in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Saturday. The announcement increased concerns that China’s communist government will continue to tighten its grip on Hong Kong. The details of the proposed national security law emerged as the body that handles most lawmaking for China’s legislature closed its latest meeting.

Source: Irish Independent June 21, 2020 03:56 UTC