Hong Kong Police Use Water Canons To Disperse Protests Against New Security Law - Reports

The Hong Kong police deployed water canons to disperse hundreds of people who took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the new law on national security, the enactment of which came hours before the special administrative region marked 23 years since its handover from the UK's to China's rule, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2020) The Hong Kong police deployed water canons to disperse hundreds of people who took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the new law on national security, the enactment of which came hours before the special administrative region marked 23 years since its handover from the UK's to China's rule, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Hong Kong police announced the first arrest for violating the new national security law. The detainee was a man who held the independence flag of the special administrative region.

According to the newspaper, police used the water cannons against protesters who gathered outside the fire station building on the Hennessy Road, as well as warned that independence slogans shouted by demonstrators also violate the new national security law.

On Tuesday, the standing committee of China's legislature voted unanimously in favor of the national security bill, sparking a firestorm of negative comments from the Hong Kong opposition as well as several Western officials, who claim it would undermine the city's autonomy guaranteed during its transition from the United Kingdom to China. By Tuesday evening, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the bill into law.

The new legislation bans separatist, subversive and terrorist activities, along with any form of foreign interference in Hong Kong. The move is supported by the Hong Kong leadership but has been met by a wave of protests in the city, as some residents fear their rights may be infringed. According to Beijing, the new security law aims to punish illegal activities in the city without harming the existing democratic freedoms of locals.