1、 https:/crsreports.congress.gov June 4, 2020China Moves to Impose National Security Law on Hong KongOverview Chinas legislature, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), on May 28, 2020, adopted a decision authorizing its Standing Committee (NPCSC) to write national security laws that will apply only to
2、 Chinas Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The decision also requires the HKSAR government to pass local legislation to protect Chinas national security, although previous attempts to pass national security legislation in the city have failed in the face of massive public protests. Man
3、y observers see the NPC decision as a violation of Chinas obligations under two of Hong Kongs foundational documents. The first is the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, the international treaty on the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to C
4、hina on July 1, 1997. The second is Chinas Basic Law of the HKSAR of 1990, which established the HKSAR. Both documents state that the HKSAR is to enjoy a “high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs” and that the “rights and freedoms” of the people of Hong Kong will remain unchang