national security law for Hong Kong. Thursday afternoon’s vote took place just before the closing of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which started last Friday.
The resolution, officially known as the “draft decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security”, was approved with 2,878 deputies from around the country voting in favour and one voting against, while six abstained. It came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a potentially huge blow to Hong Kong, told the Congress the city was no longer suitably autonomous from China.
