One Of The Saddest Days In Hong Kong: Pan-dems

Pro-democracy legislators say Beijing's move to introduce national security legislation in Hong Kong, without it being scrutinised locally, spells the end of "One Country, Two Systems".

At a press conference late on Thursday evening, the convenor of the pan-democratic camp, Tanya Chan, said under the Basic Law, Article 23 national security legislation was supposed to be handled by the Hong Kong legislature, but Beijing clearly dislikes the freedoms in the SAR.

"The Chinese government can't wait, and they really can't stand the freedoms and rights we have here in Hong Kong," she said. "So they try to take (them) away as quickly as possible, and this is one of the saddest days in Hong Kong."

Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress had floated the idea of implementing national security legislation in accordance with Article 18 of the Basic Law by listing it in Annex 3 and bypassing Legco.

Hong Kong's sole representative in the NPC Standing Committee, Tam Yiu-chung, defended Beijing's move. He pointed out that Hong Kong has failed to enact national security legislation in more than 20 years since the handover, so the move is aimed at closing a loophole when it comes to national security.

Tam cited a number of cases in recent years that posed a challenge to the country's security, such as protesters raising the flags of foreign countries during protests and attacks on the central government's organisations in Hong Kong.

Democracy activist Joshua Wong of Demosisto, meanwhile, said Beijing's move was in retaliation for the passing of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act by the US Congress. Wong, along with other activists, had lobbied Congress for its passage.

The act, which passed late last year, allows the US to change Hong Kong's trade status and sanction officials if they deem Hong Kong's autonomy to have been undermined.

Wong said his group will continue to work towards greater democracy in Hong Kong, despite fears of being outlawed in future.

In a Twitter post, Hong Kong's last governor, Chris Patten, said the move by Beijing was a comprehensive assault on Hong Kong's autonomy, rule of law, and fundamental freedoms.

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