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Experts: New National Security Law Likely to Expand China's Control Over Hong
Kong

Verna Yu

   HONG KONG - China's top law-making body is expected to pass a sweeping
   national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday --a move that many
   critics and ordinary Hong Kongers fear will empower the Communist Party
   to tighten its control and threaten the unique status of the freest
   city on Chinese soil.

   In the wake of the yearlong protests in Hong Kong sparked by a
   controversial extradition bill that could see individuals sent to China
   for trials, China has repeatedly told Hong Kong leaders to enact
   legislation to plug the "loophole" of national security. In October,
   China's Communist Party leaders unveiled steps to "safeguard national
   security" in Hong Kong.

   In late May, China shocked many by announcing it would impose a
   sweeping national security law through an annex of the city's
   mini-constitution, the Basic Law. China's top legislative body, the
   National People's Congress Standing Committee, has been holding a
   three-day deliberation on the security law since Sunday. The law is
   expected to pass on Tuesday.

   Although Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, its
   post-handover mini-constitution, the Basic Law, safeguards the city's
   basic freedoms and civil liberties, as well as the rule of law,
   according to the common law tradition.

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