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JUNE 4, 2020 | The Jewish Home
The Week In News
China Approves Hong Kong Nat’l Security Law
China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) approved a controversial Hong Kong national security law last Thursday, in a move which critics fear threatens civil liberty and political freedom in the territory. The resolution was approved almost unanimously and will allow mainland China’s state security agencies to operate in the city. Only one delegate voted against the proposal and six abstained, while an overwhelming 2,878 voted in favor. Now that it has been approved, the NPC’s standing committee will draft the law in an estimated two months. The law was designed for “Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability,” said China’s Premier Li Keqiang after the parliamentary meetings, invoking the “steady implementation of ‘one country, two systems.’” On the heels of last year’s anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong, the city once more saw people taking to the streets following news of the proposal. Following the arrest of about 300 protestors last Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. would no longer consider Honk Kong, a global financial hub, as autonomous from China for trade and economic purposes. In a statement, Pompeo denounced the law as a “disastrous decision” and called it “the latest in a series of actions that fundamentally undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms.” “No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a
high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground,” said Pompeo. Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said the law marks “the beginning of a sad and traumatizing era” for the city. “They’ve practically taken away our soul. Our soul we’ve been treasuring all these years, the rule of law, human rights, they’re taking away all the core values we’ve come to know,” she said. “From now on, Hong Kong is nothing but just another mainland Chinese city.” Hong Kong exists as a Special Administrative Region controlled by The People’s Republic of China and enjoys its own limited autonomy as defined by the Basic Law. The principle of “one country, two systems” allows for the coexistence of socialism and capitalism under “one country,” which is mainland China. The Hong Kong economy is characterized by low tax rates, free trade, and less government interference. The mainland Chinese stock markets are more conservative and restrictive. The relationship between Hong Kong and China goes back to the Opium Wars, which were fought between Great Britain and China in 1839-1860. During these military and trade clashes, China was forced to cede Hong Kong Island and a part of Kowloon to Great Britain in perpetuity. In 1898, Britain negotiated a major land expansion of the Hong Kong colony and signed a 99-year lease with China. The lease ended in 1997, at which time Britain returned Hong Kong to China as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) called the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (HKSAR).
Locusts Take Over
A new kind of invasion is threatening to destroy vital crops and vegetation in India – the worst lo-
