Hong Kong citizens celebrate the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Causeway Bay of south China's Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)
The law "will become a deterrent both to outside forces who try to intervene and those internal elements who want to collude with foreign forces," said the Pakistani senator.
by Xinhua writers Li Hao, Jiang Chao
ISLAMABAD, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China's adoption and enforcement of the law on safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) serves as a deterrent, and "will lead to stability which in turn will pave the way for progress and prosperity of Hong Kong," a Pakistani senator has said.
During the past year, the violent protests in the HKSAR were inundated with subversive activities and collusion between internal and external forces which were not strictly supervised because of the absence of a law to safeguard national security, Mushahid Hussain Syed, who is also chairman of the Pakistani Senate's standing committee on foreign affairs, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
A rioter is about to throw a Molotov cocktail at the police in Causeway Bay of south China's Hong Kong, Aug. 31, 2019. (Xinhua)
The rioters "also felt that they could get away with it because they had encouragement from abroad. So a combination of factors was there," he said, adding that "this kind of activity in my view would no longer be possible" as the national security law is implemented.
The rioters resorted to violence, blocked off roads, damaged public property, and impeded the functioning of established institutions, which undermined the normal life of Hong Kong people, said the senator.
The image and profile of the HKSAR as an international hub for business, finance and tourism had also been eroded, he said. "People from the international business sector had been talking of maybe moving from there because it's unstable and it's volatile. At times, it's violent."
A woman passes a shop which closes early due to unrest in Causeway Bay area in south China's Hong Kong, Oct. 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)
Syed has learnt from the media that the business sector in the HKSAR welcomes the national security law as they believe the law will contribute to stability, harmony and a more conducive business environment, which will attract more investment.
The senator said that Hong Kong is an integral part of China, and Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs and concern the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but the violent protests have had "foreign encouragement, or foreign sponsorship in one form or another."
The Western elements have been very openly supportive of the violent protests for their own political purposes and they even tried to incite a "color revolution," an instrument of regime and political change, in the HKSAR, said Syed.
People protest against the United States' intervention in Hong Kong affairs in front of the U.S. Consulate General, south China's Hong Kong, Dec. 3, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)
"They have been using it as a card, 'the Hong Kong Card' to pressure China, to destabilize China," he noted.
Some Western countries have not discarded the Cold War mentality, and see China's peaceful rise as a threat, said the senator, adding he believes "they want to contain China."
Syed said he believes that some Western countries, including the United States, have double standards on the matter of safeguarding national security.
"When it comes to national security and their own interests, Western countries take very strong measures," but when there are activities threatening the national security of the countries they want to destabilize, they will encourage, support and sponsor these activities, the senator said.
A resident signs in a street campaign in support of national security legislation for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Hong Kong, south China, May 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)
The national security law "will become a deterrent both to outside forces who try to intervene and those internal elements who want to collude with foreign forces, because they know that now, when they do these activities, they can get caught, and they can be punished according to the law," he pointed out.
"I think that this will serve as a deterrence as well as a blockage to their designs to destabilize Hong Kong," Syed said. ■
