The Communist Party leadership says the national security law is needed to end political unrest after the city was rocked by months of pro-democracy protests last year, but critics fear the law would smother the financial hub’s treasured freedoms.
Sunday’s discussion means the committee is expected to vote on and adopt the law — which is being fast-tracked — in the next few days. International critics and opposition politicians in Hong Kong have voiced fears that the law will effectively end the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement granting the former British colony freedoms unseen on the mainland.
China had agreed before Britain handed the territory over in 1997 to let Hong Kong maintain certain liberties and autonomy until 2047 including legislative and judicial independence and freedom of speech.