"Hong Kong Enacts Sweeping National Security Law, Strengthening Government's Control"

Hong Kong's Legislative Council unanimously passed a new national security law, expanding the government's power to crush dissent, with critics fearing it will erode civil liberties and silence critics. The law, known as Article 23, threatens stringent penalties for a wide range of actions authorities call threats to national security, with the most severe punishable by life imprisonment. Human rights organizations and foreign governments have criticized the vagueness of the law and worry that it will further erode civil liberties promised to Hong Kong when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.