HOHG KONG, Hong Kong faced a new reality on Wednesday, after a sweeping national security law was imposed by China's central government late the night before critics claim to have stripped the city of its autonomy and precious civil and social freedoms, and cemented Beijing's authoritarian rule over the land.
Hundreds turned out to oppose the law in Causeway Bay 's busy shopping district but encountered a strong security presence. Riot police sprayed the crowd with pepper spray, kettled and scattered protesters, and deployed water cannons.
During the protest, police in Hong Kong made the first arrests under the new law including a man holding a black independence flag and a woman with a sign reading "Hong Kong Independence" soon afterwards.
According to police, at least 70 people were detained on Wednesday, including two accused of breaching national security law.
The bill criminalizes, in ambiguous terms, rebellion, subversion, insurgency and collusion with foreign powers. Individuals convicted of these crimes will face life sentences in jail.
Fearing that they could be threatened under the new legislation, many political and activist organizations in the city were officially dissolved before the legislation was enforced Monday. The results could also be seen elsewhere on the streets, as shopkeepers ripped down posters that sponsored anti-government demonstrations and several people quickly removed posts and accounts from social media.
One protester, who only gave the initials JM, said he would now consider using a Virtual Private Network ( VPN) to secure himself online and even consider moving out of town.
"It's hard not to censor yourself. I hope the majority of people should be more careful," he said. "Even though I don't want to leave (Hong Kong) it is time I thought about it."
July 1 is usually a day of protest in the city but for the first time since handover, police have not granted demonstrators permission to stage peaceful demonstrations.
Given the possibility of more strict sanctions, several hundred demonstrators have turned out to shout and wave flags. Police requested that they stop screaming slogans for freedom — they also unfurled a purple flag that warned demonstrators that they were in breach of the new legislation.
Police commanders were told in a training session on June 30, that anyone seen waving an independence flag or chanting for independence should be arrested, a police source said — as anyone in possession of independence flags should have.
The scene was a marked contrast from a year ago when tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Hong Kong protesting a bill that would allow China to extradite citizens from Hong Kong. Protesters had stormed the city's government headquarters, spray-painting messages on the walls of the legislative chamber in Cantonese and English demanding that the extradition bill be dropped. The apprehension could now be a fact under the new security legislation, which permits trial in the mainland instead of Hong Kong for some cases.
Hong Kong's top official, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, said Wednesday the law is a "crucial step to ending the chaos and violence that has occurred in the city over the past few months."
"Since the handover, national security law is the most significant development in securing ties between China and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong," she said, framing criticism of the law as "vicious attacks."
