The Hong Kong riot police sealed off an area around the parliament building on Wednesday for fear of new demonstrations. MPs are debating a new law there that outlays the mockery or disrespect of the Chinese national anthem.
Roads to the commercial district are lined with barricades and barbed wire. Agents control people who want to enter the business center.
A few hundred demonstrators had gathered in central Hong Kong earlier on Wednesday to demonstrate against the new law, which, in the eyes of the activists, restricts the freedom of Hong Kongers.
Police nipped this meeting in the bud and dispersed the protesters with pepper spray. According to the police, sixteen protesters were arrested.
Possible three years in prison for ridicule anthem
The bill was introduced a few years ago after Hong Kong football fans received the Chinese national anthem with a boo during a World Cup qualifying match in 2015.
The pro-Chinese government of Hong Kong has announced that it will put the ban on ridicule of the Chinese national anthem into law as soon as possible. “Hong Kongers have a moral responsibility to respect the national anthem,” Hong Kong Deputy Leader Matthew Cheung said before the debate.
Policymakers want people who mock the national anthem to be sentenced to up to three years’ imprisonment.
‘New attempt to criminalize dissent’
The city’s prodemocratic opposition says the bill is another attempt to criminalize dissent.
Wednesday’s debate is the second in a series of three. The final round will take place next week, after which the law will be passed or rejected.
In recent years, demonstrations in Hong Kong have been regularly demonstrated against the growing influence of China on the semi-autonomous region. For example, the riot police intervened last weekend during a demonstration with tear gas grenades and pepper spray.
It was a demonstration against a controversial security law proposed by China, which undermined state activity, terrorism, the pursuit of independence and foreign interference. prohibits.
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