Watch it on NIICE Nepal Youtube Channel

Event Report

The talk on China’s new national security law organized by NIICE Nepal was chaired by Dr. Pramod Jaiswal. The main speaker was Dr. Raymond Kwun-Sun LAO. Raymond Kwun-Sun LAU is a lecturer in History, Hong Kong Baptist University. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests include Africa-China relations, International responses to genocide and mass atrocities, Politics of Hong Kong and China. He is the author of “Africa-China Relations in the Context of Belt and Road Initiative: Realizing African-Chinese Dreams for Common Development?” (Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, 2020) and “Getting Beyond the Somalia Syndrome? Revisiting US Intervention in Liberia 15 Years Later” (Springer: Cham, 2020). His first manuscript, Responding to Mass Atrocities in Africa: Protection First and Justice Later, is expected to be published by Routledge in 2021.

He talked about the national security law of China which is a key factor in Chinese domestic security. It punishes acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and “collusion with foreign and external forces.” It asserts broad powers to control sources of opposition, from democracy advocates to news agencies to overseas dissidents. The legislation was passed in 2020 by China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, and endorsed by Xi without public debate in Hong Kong or a vote by its elected legislature. He explained how It allows for sentences as long as life in prison and extends to actions committed by anyone, resident or foreigner. It allowed China to open a special bureau in Hong Kong to analyze the security situation and collect intelligence. Hong Kong established a national security committee that is overseen by the city’s chief executive but accountable to authorities in Beijing.

He further elaborated on how the Chinese government will have jurisdiction over “complex” cases relating to foreign influence or other “serious circumstances.” Authorities also set up a tip line for people to report violations of the security law. More than 180 people, aged 15 to 79, have been arrested by a special police unit set up under the national security law. At least 30 have been accused of inciting or publishing seditious text or materials. As is often the case, detainees held in this way are at great risk of torture and other ill-treatment. The speaker mentioned the case of Human rights lawyer Li Heping who was beaten, drugged, and subjected to electric shocks when he was secretly detained during the 2015 lawyers’ crackdown. The Chinese central government has set up an Office for Safeguarding National Security in the heart of Hong Kong. The office and its staff do not fall under Hong Kong’s jurisdiction. This means any actions, including their operation in the city, are not reviewable by local courts or subject to local laws. Office personnel is not subject to inspection, search, or detention by local law enforcement in Hong Kong. The office and its staff in effect enjoy complete immunity, regardless of what crimes or human rights violations they are accused of, in violation of the victim’s rights to justice, to the establishment of the truth and to receive full reparations.