China installs propaganda official to lead security agency in Hong Kong

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China appointed a hard-liner to lead its national security agency in Hong Kong after implementing sweeping authorities meant to crack down on dissent.

Zheng Yanxiong, a propagandist for the Chinese Communist Party who has suppressed protests in the mainland, was picked to be the inaugural director of the Chinese government’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong after a year of pro-freedom protests.

“He is a specialist in ideology and a hard-line official,” Wu Qiang, a Chinese politics researcher and former lecturer at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, told the Wall Street Journal. “We can expect him to impose stricter controls over press and speech freedoms in Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong’s new “national security” law criminalizes any acts of secession, including attempts to break away from the country, subversion, undermining the authority of the central government, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. It brings in many of mainland China’s policing practices to be implemented into Hong Kong, imposing a deeper threat to free speech and protests amid the public’s demands for more democracy.

Under Zheng’s leadership, the Office for Safeguarding National Security will be able to analyze intelligence, supervise local authorities’ handling of security matters, and investigate major cases directly.

Hong Kong police say they have arrested hundreds of people during protests over China’s new “national security” law for the territory, though most were for offenses unrelated to the law.

On Friday, a man carrying a “Liberate Hong Kong” sign who drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against Chinese rule became the first person to be charged with separatism and terrorism under the new law, according to Reuters.

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