Security News > 2020 > July > Details of Beijing's new Hong Kong security law signal end to more than two decades of autonomy
Chinese state security agencies will also operate in Hong Kong for the first time, and the local police force will be able to intercept communications and spy on suspects, with the approval of Hong Kong's chief executive.
The legislation will apply not just within inside Hong Kong but overseas too, meaning foreign nationals who speak against Beijing could be prosecuted upon entering Hong Kong or mainland China.
How zealously will the mainland government implement the law? Hongkongers were given a taster today when the first arrest under the new law was made against a man holding a Hong Kong independence flag in the central Causeway Bay neighbourhood.
Beijing imposed the law as a annex of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's pseudo-constitution, thus bypassing the territory's own legislature and threatening autonomy under the "One country, two systems" formula in place since its handover from the British in 1997.
He added that the law "Will deter foreign forces who try to interfere with Hong Kong affairs. The law is a turning point to put Hong Kong back on its track."