US to React Strongly If Beijing Moves Ahead With Hong Kong National Security Law: Trump

Pro-democracy protesters gesture the slogan 'five demands and not one less' during a vigil outside the Pacific Place shopping mall in the Admiralty area of Hong Kong on May 15, 2020, to mark the 11 month anniversary since a man fell to his death from a scaffolding, during a protest against the Hong Kong government's extradition bill last year. Anthony Wallance/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump said on May 21 the United States would react strongly if China follows through on plans to impose a new national security law on Hong Kong. Critics say the move would further erode the city’s autonomy and allow the regime to crack down on dissident voices under the pretext of safeguarding security.

Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for the regime’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), announced on May 21 evening that the body will propose a bill to “establish and improve the legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding the national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”