HONG KONG PROTEST

OVER 300 APPREHENDED IN HONG KONG'S FIRST OBJECTION UNDER LATEST SECURITY RULE-

UK SAYS LAW BREACHES SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION; US SAYS WON'T STAND IDLE AS CHINA SWALLOWS HK

Hong Kong police fired water cannon and teargas and arrested more than 300 people on Wednesday as protesters took to the streets in defiance of sweeping security legislation introduced by China to snuff out dissent. Beijing reveals the particulars of the much-anticipated rule late on Tuesday after weeks of unreliability, pushing China's freest city and one of the world's most sparkling financial hubs on to a more authoritarian path. The United States and the United Kingdom have condemned the move. British PM Boris Johnson said the new law violated Sino-British Joint Declaration. We stand for regulations and responsibility and we think that is the soundest basis of our international relations. The enactment and the imposition of this National Security Law constitute a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. It violates Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and is in direct conflict with Hong Kong Basic Law.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would not stand idle as China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw. Pompeo said the new law was an affront to all nations and Washington would continue to implement President Donald Trump's directive to end the territory specials status. In Hong Kong, as thousands of protesters gathered for an annual rally marking the anniversary of the former British colony's handover to China in 1997, riot police used pepper spray and fired pellets. Police said they had constructed more than 300 arrests for illicit assembly and other offenses. The law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, we will see mainland security agencies in Hong Kong for the initial time and permits extradition to the mainland for the test. China's Parliament adopted the law in response to protests last year triggered by fears that Beijing was stifling the city's freedoms, guaranteed by one country, two systems formula agreed when it returned to Chinese rule. Hong Kong police mentioned the rule in confronting protesters. You are displaying flags or banners or conducting yourselves with intent such as secession or subversion, which may constitute offenses under the national security law.