America’s top diplomat in Hong Kong on Monday said the use of a new national security law widely seen as eroding the autonomy of the city was a “tragedy.”
“Using the national security law to erode fundamental freedoms and to create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship is a tragedy for Hong Kong,” Hanscom Smith, U.S. consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “Hong Kong has been successful precisely because of its openness and we’ll do everything we can to maintain that.”
The new law bans all secessionist, subversive or terrorist activity in the territory and also outlaws foreign intervention in Hong Kong affairs.
Participants in peaceful protests would still be in violation of the law if they chanted slogans or carried banners calling for Hong Kong independence, according to the AP. Since the law’s passage, Beijing has said the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” is specifically banned.
On Monday, a court in the city denied bail to the first person charged under the law, a man who allegedly drove his motorcycle into police and carried a “Liberate Hong Kong” sign, Reuters reported.
Tong Ying-kit was arrested after footage of the incident from last Wednesday circulated online. Chief Magistrate So Wai-tak cited a section of the law stating that bail will be denied for any defendant the judge believes is a continued threat to national security.
Three pro-democracy activists, Agnes Chow, Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam, also appeared in court on charges relating to a June 2019 protest, the AP reported. Chow entered a guilty plea on charges of participating in an unlawful assembly and inciting others to do the same, while Wong and Lam, who were indicted on similar charges, pleaded not guilty.
Protests swept Hong Kong for most of the second half of 2019 over a bill introduced by Chief Executive Carrie Lam that would have allowed the extradition of some criminal suspects to China. They continued after Lam withdrew the bill, with demonstrators calling for her resignation.