Beijing has said it will propose legislation to enforce national security measures in Hong Kong – a move that is likely to escalate tensions in the territory.
Pro-democracy protests last year plunged the city into its deepest turmoil since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. At a press conference before the opening of China’s annual meeting of parliament on Friday, Zhang Yesui, a spokesman for the National People’s Congress, said: “Because of new circumstances and need, the NPC is exercising the power enshrined in the constitution to establish and improve a legal framework and mechanism for safeguarding national security and upholding the institutional framework for ‘one country, two systems’.” He added: “Hong Kong is an inseparable part