China passed a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday, a historic move that critics and many western governments fear will smother the finance hub's freedoms and hollow out its autonomy.

The legislation was unanimously approved by China's rubber-stamp parliament, little more than six weeks after it was first unveiled.

"It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before," prominent democracy campaigner Joshua Wong tweeted. "With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate."

The United States, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations rights watchdog have all voiced fears the law could be used to stifle criticism of Beijing, which wields similar laws on the authoritarian mainland to crush dissent.

The law bypassed Hong Kong's fractious legislature and the wording was kept secret from the city's 7.5 million inhabitants.

The opacity continued even after the law was passed, with silence from Beijing. Instead the news filtered out via pro-Beijing politicians and local media outlets in Hong Kong.

At her weekly press conference on Tuesday morning, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam -- a pro-Beijing appointee -- declined to comment on whether the law had been passed or what it contained.

"The fact that Hong Kong people will only come to know what's really in this new law after the fact is more than preposterous," Claudia Mo, an opposition lawmaker, told AFP.

- 'Fundamental change' -

Hong Kong was guaranteed certain freedoms -- as well as judicial and legislative autonomy -- for 50 years in a deal known as "One Country, Two Systems".

The formula formed the bedrock of the city's transformation into a world class business hub, bolstered by a reliable judiciary and political freedoms unseen on the mainland.

Critics have long accused Beijing of chipping away at that status, but they describe the security law as the most brazen move yet.

A summary of the law published by the official state agency Xinhua this month said China's security agencies would be able to set up shop publicly in the city for the first time.

Beijing has also said it will have jurisdiction over some cases, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between Hong Kong and the mainland's party-controlled courts since the 1997 handover.

Analysts said the security law radically restructures the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong.

"It's a fundamental change that dramatically undermines both the local and international community's confidence towards Hong Kong's "One Country, Two Systems" model and its status as a robust financial centre," Hong Kong political analyst Dixon Sing told AFP.

- Restore stability -

On the mainland, national security laws are routinely used to jail critics, especially for the vague offence of "subversion".

Beijing and Hong Kong's government reject those allegations.

They have said the laws will only target a minority of people, will not harm political freedoms in the city and will restore business confidence after a year of historic pro-democracy protests.

On Tuesday, four young democracy campaigners, including Joshua Wong, said they were stepping down from the party they founded while a small pro-independence group said it was disbanding.

Millions took to the streets last year while a smaller hardcore of protesters frequently battled police in increasingly violent confrontations that saw more than 9,000 arrested.

Hong Kong banned protests in recent months, citing previous unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, although local transmissions have ended.

Some western nations warned of potential repercussions for Beijing ahead of the security law's passing.

However many are wary of incurring Beijing's wrath and losing lucrative access to the mainland's huge economy.

Taiwan, which has said it is willing to help Hong Kongers relocate to the island, was one of the first governments to react.

"The government condemns this move that seriously affects freedom, human rights and stable development in Hong Kong society," the cabinet said in a statement.

Washington -- which has embarked on a trade war with China -- has said the security law means Hong Kong no longer enjoys sufficient autonomy from the mainland to justify special status.

In a largely symbolic move, the United States on Monday ended sensitive defence exports to Hong Kong over the law.

Britain had said it was willing to provide a "pathway to citizenship" for millions of Hong Kongers if the security law went ahead.

Hong Kong leftist jailed by Britain now fears Beijing's law
Hong Kong (AFP) June 30, 2020 - Jailed without trial when Hong Kong was a British colony, former underground communist Lau Man-shing says he fears a new generation of dissidents could suffer a similar fate once Beijing imposes its new national security law.

Now 91, Lau was among a group of prominent dissidents held in an unofficial detention facility by Britain during leftist riots that swept Hong Kong in 1967.

At the time Lau was a loyal supporter of China's Communist Party and a committed anti-colonial activist.

Five decades on, he yearns for democracy, convinced the city's inhabitants swapped one authoritarian master for another after the 1997 handover to China.

"Many people used to believe the promise made by Beijing that Hong Kong will gradually and eventually get universal suffrage," Lau told AFP.

"But Beijing is asserting more and more control over Hong Kong and is wielding the greatest force to suppress opposing voices."

Faced with growing popular unrest, Beijing on Tuesday imposed a sweeping security law on Hong Kong, according to local media reports.

In an unprecedented move, the anti-subversion legislation was written in Beijing, bypassing semi-autonomous Hong Kong's legislature.

The law is a response to months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.

The last time Hong Kong went through similar political tumult, Lau was at the very centre.

Fuelled by resentment of colonial rule and inspired by the Cultural Revolution unfolding in China, the 1967 riots left 51 dead.

What started as a labour dispute in an era of poverty and corruption became large-scale street battles.

The protesters initially had some popular appeal.

But public opinion turned against them when leftist bombs killed dozens -- including two children -- and a prominent anti-communist radio host was burned alive in his car.

Britain responded with a slew of emergency decrees, banning protests and many leftist publications.

During the unrest's early stages, Lau led a strike at the Water Supplies Department, where he worked as an inspector.

He was one of 52 protest leaders rounded up and held without charge in a facility that came to be known as "the white house" because of the colour of its walls.

Known only by his inmate number 459, he spent 13 months there until his sudden release.

"I never knew when it was going to end," he recalled.

Lau said he was never tortured and that conditions were better than the more lurid descriptions given by former inmates who have remained loyal to Beijing.

"The guards there were all local Hong Kong people who were rather polite to us," he said.

On release, Lau felt abandoned by the Hong Kong leftist groups who distrusted him because he refused to say he was tortured, and stopped helping him after he lost his well-paid civil service job.

The last straw for Lau -- who was born in Beijing in 1929 and fled with his family to Hong Kong -- came in 1970 when his older sister died during the purges of the Cultural Revolution.

The same movement he had sacrificed his liberty and career for had come for his family.

"My heart aches still now," Lau said.

- 'Quelling resistance' -

Earlier this month the South China Morning Post quoted government sources saying they were mulling whether to set up dedicated detention facilities for national security cases, modelled on the "white house" of colonial rule.

Now frail and reliant on a wheelchair, Lau said he felt the radicalism of his youth was caused by "being deceived by the Chinese communists and blinded by the Hong Kong leftists".

Many current pro-democracy protesters have also embraced confrontations with police and more violent tactics.

Lau said he felt Hong Kongers had been left with little choice after years of peaceful protests achieved little from Beijing.

"People broke a lot of things but what other means were they left?" he asked, describing the current crop of protesters as "informed and educated citizens fighting for universal values".

Beijing, he said, "wants to quell resistance for once and for all".

"But will Hong Kong become quiet and stable afterwards? Will Hong Kong people become obedient under suppression? I don't think so."

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Documentary on Hong Kong protests deletes scene after anthem law
Hong Kong (AFP) June 25, 2020
The director of a documentary about Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement says he has deleted a scene featuring a dissident artist playing China's national anthem after a law was passed criminalising "insults" to the revolutionary song. The revelation illustrates how the new law is already curtailing artistic creativity in semi-autonomous Hong Kong as it seethes with popular anger towards Beijing's rule. Evans Chan, a Hong Kong-born but US-based producer behind the film "We Have Boots", said he rem ... read more