Security has been tightened in China’s Hongkong as of Wednesday, as the Chinese government is all-set to debate the new bill, which criminalises disrespect towards their national anthem. This bill enforces the teaching of ‘March of the Volunteers’ in all schools and educational organisations, and jail for those who don’t abide by the new law.
People of Hong Kong have taken to the streets again over the fear of having their freedom curbed due to this new legislation. It is seen as a direct interference of China’s Communist Party in the former British colony’s affairs. Images of police firing tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters evoked memories of the protests held last year against the extradition bill.
Police vans and officers lined roads near the heart of the financial centre as authorities braced for fresh protests.
The laws that could fall in place after the legislation is passed could put an end to all the freedom that people of Hong Kong had been enjoying all these years since 1997, when China got back Hongkong from Britain’s colonial rule, which gave Hongkong some amount of autonomy under “one country, two systems”.
However, the Chinese authorities and the Beijing-backed government in Hong Kong say there is no threat to the city’s autonomy and the laws will be tightly focused.