Chinese could deploy security forces in Hong Kong under new law

China’s proposed new security law for Hong Kong will allow Beijing’s security forces to operate in the city.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Friday that the legislation was effectively a “death knell” for Hong Kong’s status as an autonomous city. He urged China to “reconsider its disastrous proposal [and] abide by its international obligations”.

The law bars subversion, separatism, “acts of foreign interference” and terrorism, all charges that have been used in mainland China to mute political opponents. The draft comes before China’s rubber-stamp parliament next week and is certain to be passed without change or real opposition.

A draft version circulating on Friday would allow the “national security organs of the central people’s government” to set up outposts in Hong Kong, which has its own police force. These security bodies would “safeguard national security,” the document states.