For the first time, the Hong Kong government has confirmed that it is evaluating the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, a sweeping law that many fear would allow the government to declare a state of emergency and clamp down on protests.
Since June, millions of Hongkongers have attended nearly 50 marches and rallies against a controversial extradition bill, which proposed allowing people to be transferred to mainland China for trial, where there is a history of human rights violations and an opaque legal system. Many feared that the bill would erode the city’s autonomy from the Chinese regime. In 1997, the territory reverted from British to Chinese rule with the express guarantee that its freedoms and autonomy would be preserved.
