HONG KONG (AP) Hong Kong police made their first arrests Wednesday under a new national security law imposed a day earlier by Chinas central government, detaining at least seven people suspected of violating it during protests by thousands of people.
Police said one man with a Hong Kong independence flag was arrested at a protest in the citys Causeway Bay shopping district. Police arrested another woman for holding up a sign displaying the British flag and calling for Hong Kongs independence. Three other women were detained for possessing items advocating independence. Further details were not immediately available.
Hong Kong police said on Facebook that they arrested more than 180 people on various charges, including unlawful assembly, possession of weapons and violating the national security law.
The arrests come as thousands took to the streets Wednesday in an anti-government protest on the 23rd anniversary of Britains handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. For the first time, police banned this years annual march. Protesters shouted slogans, lambasted police and held up signs condemning the Chinese government and the new security law.
The law, imposed by China following last years anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous territory, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the citys internal affairs. Any person taking part in secessionist activities, such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the citys independence, is violating the law regardless of whether violence is used.
The most serious offenders, such as those deemed to be masterminds behind the crimes, could receive a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Lesser offenders could receive jail terms of up to three years, short-term detention or restriction.
Hong Kongs leader strongly endorsed the new law in a speech marking Wednesdays 23rd anniversary of the handover of the territory officially called the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from British colonial rule.
The enactment of the national law is regarded as the most significant development in the relationship between the central authorities and the HKSAR since Hong Kongs return to the motherland, chief executive Carrie Lam said in a speech, following a flag-raising ceremony and the playing of Chinas national anthem.
It is also an essential and timely decision for restoring stability in Hong Kong, she said.
A pro-democracy political party, The League of Social Democrats , organized a protest march during the flag-raising ceremony. About a dozen participants chanted slogans echoing demands from protesters last year for political reform and an investigation into accusations of police abuse.