To coincide with the 23rd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on Wednesday last week Beijing activated its new national security legislation for the territory.
China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Deputy Director Zhang Xiaoming (張曉明) crassly characterized the imposition — which extends Beijing’s legislation on crimes of sedition, separatism, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces to the former British colony — as a “birthday gift” to Hong Kong.