Hong Kong’s Legislative Council has passed a new national security law that provides for life imprisonment for crimes such as treason and sedition, Le Figaro reports.

Beijing on Wednesday condemned Western criticism of Hong Kong’s new security law, accusing the British government of exhibiting a “deep-rooted colonialist mentality” and the European Union of hypocrisy. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong, a former British colony before it was handed over to China in 1997, has unanimously voted in favor of a new national security law that carries life sentences for crimes such as treason and sedition.

The text, which will come into effect on March 23, complements a national security law Beijing introduced in the territory in 2020 after large pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong last year.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the text would “further undermine rights and freedoms in the city” and “undermine Hong Kong’s fulfillment of its international obligations” outlined at the time of the handover.

In response, China’s foreign ministry criticized Britain for “hypocrisy and double standards”, citing Britain’s national security laws, one of which was passed last year.

“Britain made inflammatory and irresponsible comments about the situation in Hong Kong (…) this is due to the deeply rooted mentality of a colonizer and a preacher,” the commissariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hong Kong noted. “We call on the UK to correct its position, face reality and abandon the fantasy of continuing its colonial influence in Hong Kong,” he continued in a statement released on Wednesday.

The commission issued a separate response to criticism from the EU, which said the new law would affect the territory’s “long-term attractiveness” as an international business hub. “We call on the EU to take into account the strong interest in the law in Hong Kong and abandon its hypocritical policies” and “prejudices,” the statement said.

The new law, passed by the local parliament, contains five categories of crimes in addition to those already punishable under the 2020 text: treason, rebellion, espionage and theft of state secrets, sabotage threatening national security, sedition and “external interference” . The new law, called Article 23, aims to fill the “gaps” left by the previous legislation, Hong Kong leader John Lee said.

The territory’s government also argued that the creation of this new law was necessary under the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that has governed the island since it was handed over in 1997. The Chinese embassy in the UK assured that the text “fully protects the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people rejoice” and accused Cameron of “distorting reality”.

The United States, the United Nations and Japan have also criticized Article 23. On Tuesday, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Washington was “alarmed” by the content of the law. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called the text and its “hasty” adoption “a step backwards for the protection of human rights.”

As for Japan, it expressed “great concern over the adoption of (the law), which will further undermine the credibility of the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”, which is supposed to guarantee Hong Kong special freedoms, including judicial and legislative. autonomy from mainland China, which gave it the status of a world financial center. This principle, inherited from the retrocession treaty, should be valid until 2047.

The material was created with the support of Rador Radio Romania