“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began cracking down on Hong Kong protesters on Wednesday after China’s government imposed a new national security law that cemented Beijing’s control over the city. On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed into a law a bill banning acts of sedition, subversion, and terrorism, a bill passed by China’s top legislative body by a vote of 162-0. Violating the new law could result in a sentence of life in prison. The Hong Kong Police Force touted the first arrests under the new laws, tweeted out photographs and writing: ‘A man was arrested for holding a #HKIndependence flag in #CausewayBay, Hong Kong, violating the #NationalSecurityLaw. This is the first arrest made since the law has come into force.’ The man who was arrested appears to have simply been carrying a flag that stated: ‘Hong Kong Independence.’ The Hong Kong Police Force later announced a second arrest under the new national security law after a woman was caught carrying a sign that stated: ‘Hong Kong Independence.’ The Hong Kong Police Force later warned those who were waving a purple flag that warned others of the new draconian law that they may also be arrested. According to police, at least 70 protesters were arrested Wednesday. The New York Times highlighted how the new national security law allows China to suppress Hong Kong’s growing protest movement and to expand its national security apparatus ‘to pervade many layers of Hong Kong’s society.’ Numerous U.S. officials spoke out against the new Chinese law, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who wrote on Twitter: ‘The CCP’s draconian national security law ends free Hong Kong and exposes the Party’s greatest fear: the free will and free thinking of its own people.’”
“China Begins Brutal Crackdown,” The Daily Wire, July 1, 2020