AUTHORITARIAN AUTHORITY
Police in Hong Kong arrested 300 people at the first protest since the new law
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck and shouting "resistance to the end" and "Hong Kong independence".
Police in Hong Kong on Wednesday used water cannon shelves and arrested more than 300 people at the first protest held despite a strict security law passed by China the day before.
Beijing on Tuesday, after weeks of uncertainty, released details of a new law that leads China's most free city and international financial center to more authoritarian rule.
Thousands of protesters gathered in central Hong Kong on Wednesday to mark the annual surrender of the former British colony to China in 1997. After a crowd scattered through the surrounding streets shouting "resistance to the end" and "Hong Kong independence", police detained protesters and used tear gas. rubber bullets.
Police said they had arrested more than 300 people for illegal gatherings and other violations of the law, and that nine people had been detained for violating the new law.
China's new security law introduced in Hong Kong in some cases punishes subversive life with acts of secession and terrorism, terrorism, collusion with foreign powers and for the first time a security service from China's homeland is introduced in Hong Kong and allows extraditions to trials in China.
The Chinese parliament passed the law in response to last year's protests sparked by fears that Beijing was restricting Hong Kong's freedoms guaranteed by the "one country, two systems" formula agreed upon when the city was returned to Chinese rule.
British Foreign Secretary Domionic Raab said events on Wednesday mourned and rebuked HSBC and other banks for supporting the new law, saying Hong Kong rights could not be sacrificed for bankers' bonuses.
In Beijing, Zhang Xiaoming , China's deputy director for Hong Kong and Macau, told reporters that suspects arrested under the new security law could be tried in China's homeland.
He said that the new Beijing office in the city is acting according to Chinese laws and that Hong Kong's legal system cannot be expected to apply the laws of the motherland. Article 55 of the law says the Chinese Security Bureau can take over jurisdiction over "complex" and "serious" cases.
“The law is a birthday gift to Hong Kong and will show its value in the future,” Zhang said, adding that the law will not be applied retroactively.
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