Asia

Proposed Chinese agency in Hong Kong for intel, not enforcement: Adviser

adminMay 28, 20201 Mins read85 Views

BEIJING: A proposed security law could allow Chinese mainland authorities to set up shop in Hong Kong, but their powers would likely be restricted to intelligence gathering and an advisory role, a member of China's top political advisory body said Wednesday (May 27).

China's rubber-stamp parliament is expected to approve on Thursday a proposal to draft a national security law for Hong Kong, which has sparked fresh protests over fears the financial hub will lose its unique freedoms.

Daniel Fung, Hong Kong member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told AFP the idea is to establish a security agency similar to one that existed when the city was a British colony.

"I would expect the powers and duties of this agency to be restricted to intelligence gathering, and playing an advisory role," Fung said, while noting its exact functions will have to be set out under the legislation that will be passed at a later date.

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Enforcement of laws, he added, should remain with the Hong Kong government under the proposal, which would ban secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference.

Hong Kong has its own legal system and a degree of autonomy through the "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement under which Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997.

Under the city's mini-constitution, local police are responsible for law enforcement but mainland police officials are allowed to operate within the territory. Activists fear the new proposals will end this firewall.

Last year's mass unrest against the government was triggered by a now-scrapped proposal to allow extraditions to the mainland, which many worried would leave Hong Kong citizens at the mercy of China's opaque justice system.