Chinese lawmakers approved a proposal for sweeping new national security legislation in Hong Kong, defying a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to respond strongly to a measure that democracy advocates say will curb essential freedoms in the city.

The National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature, approved the draft decision by a vote of 2,878-1 on Thursday at its annual session in Beijing, with six abstentions. Chinese officials could now take months to sort out the details of laws banning subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference before they’re given to Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed administration to promulgate.

The move to bypass the semi-autonomous city’s local Legislative Council has alarmed Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists and opposition politicians. It risks spawning yet more protests in the city and could potentially prompt companies to flee if the laws undermine the independent judiciary in the Asian financial hub.

The Trump administration on Wednesday took the significant step of saying it could no longer certify Hong Kong’s autonomy from China, which was promised before the British handed the city back in 1997. The move could trigger a range of actions by the Trump administration, from sanctions on Chinese officials to revoking the city’s special trading status with the U.S.

President Donald Trump, asked about the possible sanctions, said Tuesday his administration was “doing something now” that he would unveil this week.

“Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as U.S. laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1997,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in announcing the decision. “No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground.”

The plan to enact the national security legislation was first announced in Beijing late last week, with Chinese officials saying it was needed to stem sometimes-violent protests that hit the city last year. They argued that Hong Kong’s lawmakers had 23 years to pass the legislation, which is mandated under Hong Kong’s mini-constitution called the Basic Law.

“All of the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong people and international investors will remain unchanged,” Hong Kong’s government said in a statement on Wednesday. It said the laws wouldn’t erode the rule of law, an independent judiciary or freedom of expression.

Hong Kong’s democracy camp isn’t convinced, however. While last year’s protests all but stopped during the pandemic, demonstrators came out multiple times since the announcement on the laws, defying police who are still limiting public gatherings.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/28/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/china-approves-hong-kong-security-legislation/#.Xs9sjKhKiUk

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But Kim, in the note posted by Trump on Twitter, made no mention of any work by North Korea toward denuclearization at a time when there has been no sign of concrete action by Pyongyang since the two leaders held a landmark summit in Singapore on June 12.

Despite that, Trump hailed the July 6 letter as a “very nice note,” saying “Great progress being made.”

Kim praised Trump for “energetic and extraordinary efforts made by Your Excellency Mr. President for the improvement of relations between the two countries and the faithful implementation of the joint statement.”

He was referring the summit statement signed by the two leaders – the first-ever U.S.-North Korean summit – in which Kim agreed in broad terms to “work toward denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump later said North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat, even though no details were announced, and critics suggested the president had failed to secure any new commitments from Pyongyang toward the dismantling of its nuclear missile program.

The date of the letter suggests it may have been sent before Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang last week, in which the United States and North Korea struggled to make headway on the denuclearization issue.

North Korea accused the United States on Saturday of making “gangster-like” demands in the talks in North Korea, contradicting Pompeo who said the old enemies had made progress.

But Kim’s note, which Trump included in his Twitter post with an image of the letter in Korean and an English-language translation of it, took a different tone.

“I firmly believe that the strong will, sincere efforts and unique approach of myself and Your Excellency Mr. President aimed at opening up a new future between the DPRK and the U.S. will surely come to fruition,” Kim wrote, referring to North Korea by its acronym.

Kim said he hoped the process between the two sides would lead to “practical actions” in the future – though he offered no specifics – and that there would be a second meeting between the two leaders.

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