On July 1, the National Security Law was implemented in Hong Kong causing Hongkongers to protest on the streets. Hong Kong police fired pepper spray, tear gas, water cannons, and made over 370 arrests. On late June 30, after ceremonial votes by China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), the national security law went into effect. The law criminalizes individuals for any acts of subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, with maximum penalties of life imprisonment.
TOPSHOT - Riot police clear a street as protesters gathered to rally against a new national security law in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020, on the 23rd anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. - A man found in possession of a Hong Kong independence flag became the first person to be arrested under Beijing's new national security law for the city, police said on July 1. (Photo by DALE DE LA REY / AFP) Photo by DALE DE LA REY/AFP via Getty Images
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