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Some real kickers in here: * Beijing will establish a new security office in Hong Kong, with its own law enforcement personnel - neither of which would come un
by monkeypizza 6y ago
Some real kickers in here:
* Beijing will establish a new security office in Hong Kong, with its own law enforcement personnel - neither of which would come under the local authority's jurisdiction
* This office can send some cases to be tried in mainland China - but Beijing has said it will only have that power over a "tiny number" of cases
* Beijing will have power over how the law should be interpreted, not any Hong Kong judicial or policy body. If the law conflicts with any Hong Kong law, the Beijing law takes priority
- nieksand 6y agoAdvocating for Hong Kong independence can also earn you a life sentence: "Crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces are punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison" I'm not sure if criticizing Chairman Xi or the CCP would qualify as subversion.
- entropea 6y agoAren't there also similar laws like that in USA? People are being recommended life sentences for throwing a molotov at an empty police vehicle during these George Floyd protests and are being labeled as terrorists by Trump. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/us/brooklyn-molotov-lawyers-protests/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/us/brooklyn-molotov-lawyers-p...
- derision 6y agoGood. I don't care if it's a police car or someone's personal car or an empty cardboard box. If you're throwing around molotov cocktails you should go to jail.
- entropea 6y agoI agree that they should have jail time, but life in prison after not actually harming anyone physically? That's authoritarian and exactly what I was replying to in OP's comment.
- derision 6y agoWhat if the car exploded, hurting people nearby? What if there was a police canine in the vehicle that wasn't see, or someone crouching on the other side of the car out of sight? Throwing a molotov cocktail into a vehicle, in my opinion, should be charged as attempted manslaughter.
- entropea 6y agoHypotheticals don't belong in criminal trials.
- unicornfinder 6y agoTo be fair though, even if you think people should go to jail for that (and I don't think that's an unreasonable view), surely you'd agree that a life sentence is excessive?
- derision 6y agoA life sentence is excessive yes, but why are we trying to justify throwing molotiv cocktails in the first place? What happened to civility?
- nieksand 6y agoNo. You are free to criticize the government all you want. You can also advocate for independence without fear of imprisonment. Both California and Texas have supporters of succession. You aren't free to blow up police cars though. For that you'll face consequences.
- woodpanel 6y agoNo, as for the US there is still a difference what Leadership tweets or gaffes into a microphone and what becomes law or passes judicial review. This stands in contrast to these "kickers" since they are already Chinese law – and let's not even start comparing Beijings supreme court with that of the US…
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- vmception 6y agoPeople give way too much weight to a handover promise with a completely different country, and not the wording of the Hong Kong constitution and the Chinese Constitution. Both allow for everything that has happened, which suggests restraint by both Hong Kong and Chinese authories. Hong Kong Basic Law (its constitution) allows for National Security to be controlled by Beijing. I can see the symbolism of 50 year autonomy being undermined, but can someone explain why this topic never has a legal discussion attached, whereas other topics do?
- computerfriend 6y agoThis is not true. The basic law explicitly excludes this, because there is a provision for national security in article 23. Annex iii can contain national laws that are not covered by the basic law (e.g. foreign policy).