'Rights and freedoms are not absolute': Hong Kong leader warns protestors
Hong Kong police are shutting down city streets to deter protests as Chief Executive Carrie Lam warns the public that their rights and freedoms are not absolute and new legislation is needed to restore market confidence.
Sweeping national security laws designed to "prevent, stop and punish" dissent in the Chinese territory will have their second reading in Beijing on Wednesday,
"We are a very free society, so for the time being, people have the freedom to say what they want to say," Ms Lam said on Tuesday.
"If we want to protect the majority of people and a small minority of people are going to breach the law to organise and participate in terrorist activities then of course we have to have the legislation," said Ms Lam. "Rights and freedoms are not absolute."
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive, speaks while wearing a protective mask during a news conference in Hong Kong. Credit:Bloomberg
Ms Lam would not rule out the laws being retrospective, potentially putting thousands of protesters that took to the streets last year on Beijing's radar. "I cannot comment when the law is yet to be drafted," she said.
While the protests began in March 2019 in response to an extradition bill that was ultimately abandoned, they morphed into a wide-ranging movement fuelled by anger over Beijing's influence, allegations of police brutality and questions about self-determination.
The draft measures prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government in Beijing. It also reveals plans to establish new national security agencies for the first time in Hong Kong, two decades after the former British colony was transferred to China.
Ms Lam said "at the moment", fears of protesters being arrested by mainland security agencies or being charged for criticising the chief executive were an "imagination".
Clamping down on protests is seen as essential to Hong Kong's post-coronavirus recovery after growth fell by 8.9 per cent last year.
The Hang Seng climbed by 1.9 per cent in early trade on Tuesday, regaining some of last week's losses, which saw the sharpest decline in five years.
"Businesses have told me they want a stable environment," said Ms Lam. "They want to be able to bring their family to live in Hong Kong where it is safe. Enacting national security legislation will actually reinforce Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre."
The rebound followed a queue of prominent Hong Kong business leaders and Chinese Communist Party members backing the legislation in Chinese state media.
Victor Li Tzar Kuoi, the eldest son of Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, said political chaos had created an uncertain business environment. Lee Man Chun, chairman of packaging giant Lee & Man Paper, said the legislation should be passed as soon as possible.
"Only when living in peace can people work in contentment," he said.
On Saturday, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement criticising the legislation.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne said they were deeply concerned China had decided to legislate overrule the territory's legislature.
"Making such a law on Hong Kong’s behalf, without the direct participation of its people, legislature or judiciary, would clearly undermine the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, under which Hong Kong is guaranteed a high degree of autonomy," the statement read.
White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said on Sunday the US could impose trade sanctions on Hong Kong if Beijing follows through with the law.
"I can't see how Hong Kong remains an Asian financial centre if the Chinese Communist Party goes through and implements its national security law," he said.