Uppgifter: Storbritannien pausar Hongkongavtal

The Hong Kong national security law, officially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is the piece of national security legislation concerning Hong Kong. Such a law is required under Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, which came into force in 1997 and stipulates that the law should be enacted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In June 2020, a partially equivalent law was enacted by the Chinese Standing Committee of the National People's Congress instead of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. A similar attempt in 2003 by Hong Kong to fulfill legislation under Article 23 did not succeed after mass demonstrations; during British rule, the local colonial government had also attempted to pass security legislation, which China blocked. Both the 2003 and 2020 attempts at legislation occurred during coronavirus outbreaks (SARS and COVID-19, respectively), with each exacerbating the negative response to the proposals. The text of the law has drawn strong attention from the international community, including provisions to accept more Hong Kong migrants in the United Kingdom as well as the United States, Australia and Taiwan. The controversial law has also garnered particular attention for its Article 38, which states that the law is applicable to every individual, including those outside of and not from Hong Kong.