Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested dozens of protesters under a new national security law that was put into effect by China one day earlier.
The Associated Press reported that a Hong Kong police spokesperson said on social media that as many as 180 people were arrested in demonstrations Wednesday under a broad new law that makes participating in any “secessionist” activity illegal.
Under the new law, any protest activity can be determined as illegal and organization of such activities could lead to greater punishment, including up to life in prison. Lesser sentences range up to three years in prison.
The new provisions also allow suspected criminals to be extradited from the former British colony to mainland China for the first time, thereby opening up the possibility of activists being charged by courts on the mainland.
One pro-democracy activist told the AP that the law’s passage was meant to intimidate protesters who have been in the streets of Hong Kong demonstrating against pro-Chinese changes to Hong Kong’s government and constitution for months.
“This would tell you that they want not just to get us, but to intimidate us into inaction, into a catatonic state,” the activist said.
Hong Kong’s executive Carrie Lam, herself a target of many of the demonstrations, celebrated the news in an address following a ceremony Wednesday.
“The enactment of the national law is regarded as the most significant development in the relationship between the central authorities and the HKSAR since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland,” she said.
“It is also an essential and timely decision for restoring stability in Hong Kong,” Lam added.
The executive director of Beijing’s highest authority dealing with Hong Kong added that the law was a “birthday gift to [Hong Kong] and will show its precious value in the future,” according to the AP.