Opponents of security law are ‘enemy of the people’

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam yesterday urged opponents of Beijing's plan to impose national security legislation in the financial hub to stop "smearing" the effort, saying those who did were "the enemy of the people".

Beijing last month announced a plan to introduce legislation in Hong Kong to tackle secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference. The law could see Chinese security agencies set up bases in the city for the first time.

Critics see the law as the most serious threat to a "one country, two systems" formula, agreed when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 to protect its freedoms and role as a global financial centre.

The Chinese government and Lam's Beijing-backed city administration say the law will not curtail freedoms and will only target a small number of "troublemakers" and help bring stability after a year of anti-government protests. "

The government has mounted a campaign to rally public support for the legislation, with billboards, a booklet with questions and answers and a video of Lam defending the law "in the public interest".

Meanwhile, Britain yesterday said that China's plan to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong would undermine the autonomy of its former colony and could threaten rights and freedoms there.

A diplomat from North Korea then took the floor to voice concern at "certain countries' attempt to use Hong Kong-related issues to interfere in China's domestic affairs". Hong Kong was "an inseparable part" where China's sovereignty is exercised and its constitution is applied, he said.