New Security Law Imposed On Hong Kong By China’s CCP Applies to Everyone on the Planet Says Law Professor
— If you have ever said anything anywhere that might offend the CCP stay out of Hong Kong
Chinese president Xi Jinping’s threats to extend his CCP (Chinese Communist Party) dictatorship to Hong Kong in the face of mass public protests for freedom and democracy has finally acted with the passage of a draconian new security law which is defined so broadly it applies to everyone on the planet. Yes you read that correctly! Speaking to the Guardian Donald Clarke, law professor at George Washington University said “If you’ve ever said anything that might offend the PRC [People’s Republic of China] or Hong Kong authorities, stay out of Hong Kong.” However, in a post on The China Collection blog Professor Clarke notes that he has no reason to doubt that this extraordinary claim in the security law to cover everyone anywhere means what it says.
The late Martin Luther King Jr would no doubt be in the front rank opposing this new security law because it uniquely vindicates his assertion that a threat to human rights anywhere is a threat to human rights everywhere when he wrote in a letter from Birmingham Jail, on April 16, 1963: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
And there is no doubt that the CCP really is determined to extend its reach across the globe and put potentially everyone on earth in their firing line as that is quite explicit in article 38 which translates as follows:
“This Law shall apply to offences under this Law committed against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from outside the Region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region.”
Analysing that article Prof. Clarke is quite unequivocal — “it is asserting extraterritorial jurisdiction over every person on the planet” — even highlighting his conclusion in his post.
He goes on to analyse the law specifically considering the implications of different articles which I do not propose to do here. However, I will just summarise the key points. First, the law is defined so broadly it can mean what the CCP wants it to mean. Second, local independently appointed judges will not be allowed to adjudicate on this law with only specially appointed judges answerable to the CCP allowed to do so. Third, extradition to the mainland will be allowed which guarantees absolute control by the CCP.
Finally in relation to the penalties that can imposed anyone who dares to protest can expect anything from 10 years to life imprisonment. Words like “terrorism” in particular will mean what the CCP say they mean effectively under this law as it is easy to see how even public protest could be made to fit that definition. And given the law is defined so broadly it would be easy to accomplish that under any circumstances especially as there is no appeal to any independent judges. However, as Professor Clarke points out the institutions that will implement this law are key. They will ensure that anyone arrested under this law have no chance if the CCP wants to lock them up!
Why this resonated so profoundly with me is because I am currently involved in making a feature documentary on Syria called BRINGING ASSAD TO JUSTICE about the efforts of Syrians to use universal jurisdiction to secure accountability for crimes against humanity. They obviously cannot do that in Syria or they would be tortured and killed by the Assad regime given the hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence and the famous 55,000 Caesar file images which provide prima facie documentary evidence in testifying to the extreme cruelty of that regime. However, when efforts in the UN Security Council were made to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, China vetoed that proposal with Russia citing the usual opposition to universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction as undermining state sovereignty. However, as we see in relation to Hong Kong when it comes to crushing peaceful political opposition and violating human rights it is quite happy to assert the principle of universal or extra-territoriality as defined by itself. That egregious attempt to seek to commit violations of human rights across the world must be vigorously resisted not only for the people of Hong Kong but in our own interests because in this case the CCP is directly targeting everyone anywhere.
