Truncated timetable meant Washington had no time to prepare packages of sanctions to threaten legislators during debate
Chief executive John Lee speaking to the media in the Legislative Council building after the passing of the Article 23 National Security Law in Hong Kong. Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images’s new national security law was long expected and the unanimous vote in the “all-patriot” Legislative Council was no great surprise.
The law redefines sedition so that it does not have to involve incitement to violence and expands the definition of state secrets, as well as introducing very harsh sentences for some offences. Businesses, journalists’ groups and foreign governments all expressed concerns about the implications of the law for what is left of Hong Kong’s independent media and civil society.
Sanctions could yet come and Tuesday’s vote brought immediate and bipartisan condemnation from Capitol Hill and from overseas groups that campaign for civil liberties in Hong Kong. But foreign governments have been cautious, partly because they do not wish to be seen to interfere in a legislative process that was made in Hong Kong rather than directly imposed from Beijing.
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