New national security provisions will further erode Hong Kong's already fading status as a safe haven for foreign businesses and media focused on the China market, while impeding U.S. and European efforts to find common ground with Beijing on economic matters. On Jan. 30, Hong Kong's Security Bureau released a document laying out the government's intentions and content proposals for a local version of a National Security Law (NSL). In broad terms, the proposal expands the definition of a ''state secret'' to align with China's, effectively including any information that could endanger national security, like information related to governmental policy decisions, economic and social developments, and Hong Kong's relationship with China. In combination, these are large and ill-defined categories of information that would give the Hong Kong government wide leeway in interpretation and application. In verbiage, the document aligns closely with common Chinese Communist Party (CCP) narratives about hostile foreign...
