Beijing has appointed Eric Chan as the secretary general of Hong Kong's new security authority which is created per the fresh national security law, according to a Thursday statement by the Liaison Office of the Chinese central government in the autonomous city
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2020) Beijing has appointed Eric Chan as the secretary general of Hong Kong's new security authority which is created per the fresh national security law, according to a Thursday statement by the Liaison Office of the Chinese central government in the autonomous city.
According to the liaison office, the State Council of the People's Republic of China named Eric Chan (or Chan Kwok-ki) as the secretary general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security, which will oversee the national security in the city, while answering to the central government.
The committee is chaired by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and includes the finance secretary, the justice secretary, the police commissioner, and the security secretary among its members. It also has a secretariat, headed by the secretary general, whose candidacy is proposed by the chief executive and approved by Beijing.
Chan spent most of his carrier occupying various positions within the Hong Kong immigration service ending up as its chief from 2011 to 2016. In 2017, he was appointed as the chief executive's office director.
The new legislation, enacted on Tuesday, bans separatist, subversive and terrorist activities, along with any form of foreign interference in Hong Kong. The move is supported by the Hong Kong leadership but has been met by a wave of protests in the city, as some residents fear their rights may be infringed upon. According to Beijing, the new security law aims to punish illegal activities in the city without harming the existing democratic freedoms of locals.
The legislation triggered a new wave of protests on Wednesday, resulting in hundreds of people getting arrested for violating the new law.
