BEIJING – China’s legislature endorsed a national security law for Hong Kong on Thursday that has strained relations with the United States and Britain and prompted protests in the territory.
The National People’s Congress backed the bill as it wrapped up an annual session that was held under intensive anti-coronavirus controls. The vote was 2,878 to 1, in line with the high-profile but largely ceremonial body’s custom of near-unanimous approval of legal changes decided by the ruling Communist Party.
The Hong Kong security law will alter the territory’s mini-constitution, or Basic Law, to require the territory to enforce measures to be decided by the standing committee of the NPC, a small body controlled by the ruling Communist Party that handles most lawmaking work. (AP)
