New Hong Kong Watch report exposes Hong Kong’s slide into authoritarianism, warning legal bodies and businesses worldwide
Today, Hong Kong Watch launched a new report, In the Name of National Security: How Hong Kong’s National Security Laws Dismantle the Rule of Law in Comparative Perspective, at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
The report, co-authored by Hong Kong Watch’s Research and Policy Advisor Anouk Wear and Policy Director Megan Khoo, analyzes how Hong Kong’s 2020 National Security Law and 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance undermine the rule of law in Hong Kong by eroding its liberal constitutional framework, judicial independence, and separation of powers.
The report also places Hong Kong’s national security laws in a broader context, comparing them with legislation in the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and Malaysia, to illustrate their alignment with the restrictive measures of authoritarian regimes.
The report concludes with recommendations for policymakers, international businesses, and legal professional bodies, offering guidance as the global community reassesses its relationship with an increasingly authoritarian Hong Kong.
You can read the full report here and the executive summary here.
During today’s report launch, the discussion featured opening remarks by Shelly Hahn, Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, followed by a panel discussion with Anouk Wear, Research and Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch, Kevin Yam, Advisory Board Member at the China Strategic Risks Institute, Sophie Richardson, Visiting Scholar at the Stanford University FSI Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and Thomas Kellogg, Executive Director at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law and Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. The discussion was moderated by Matt Geraci, Associate Director at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
Thomas Kellogg commented on “weaponization of the law to crackdown on human rights” and the “false positive gloss” that the Hong Kong government has put on the national security laws. Sophie Richardson reflected on the sentencing of the Hong Kong 47, saying that “the idea that anybody is going to prison for participating in an informal primary is ludicrous” and Kevin Yam emphasized the indivisibility of the rule of law and added “the national security law is having a lot of downstream impact.”
You can watch a recording of the discussion here.
Anouk Wear, Research and Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch, said:
“Today, following the sentencing of the Hong Kong 47 and one day before Jimmy Lai’s trial resumes, we can clearly see that the rule of law in Hong Kong is in steep decline and that the national security laws are used for political purposes.
Nevertheless, the Hong Kong government continues its global propaganda campaign focused on whitewashing its human rights violations and promoting ‘business as usual’. This report dismantles these claims, analyzing specifically how the rule of law will affect ordinary citizens and the business community, and compares it to jurisdictions known for their poor rule of law. We strongly urge businesses and others interested in doing business in and with Hong Kong to consider these factors in their risk assessments.”
新香港監察報告揭示香港步向威權 警告全球法律機構及企業港府粉飾國安法
今天在美國智庫大西洋理事會（Atlantic Council）環球中國中心（Global China Hub）網上活動上，香港監察發布新報告《以國安之名：從比較角度看香港國安法如何摧毀法治》（In the Name of National Security: How Hong Kong’s National Security Laws Dismantle the Rule of Law in Comparative Perspective）。
這份報告由香港監察研究及政策顧問華穆清（Anouk Wear）和政策總監Megan Khoo共同撰寫，分析了香港2020年《國家安全法》和2024年《維護國家安全條例》如何透過削弱香港自由憲法框架、司法獨立和三權分立，破壞香港法治。
報告亦將香港兩項國安法放在更廣泛脈絡中，與中國、俄羅斯和馬來西亞的法律比較，闡釋香港國安法與威權政體限制措施的相同之處。
報告最後向政策制訂者、國際企業和法律專業機構提出建議，為國際社會重新評估與日趨威權香港的關係提供指引。
今天在報告發布會上，大西洋理事會環球中國中心副總監Shelly Hahn先作開場發言，然後交由香港監察研究及政策顧問華穆清、中國戰略風險研究所顧問委員會委員任建峰（Kevin Yam）、史丹福大學FSI民主、發展暨法治中心訪問學人Sophie Richardson和佐治城大學法律中心亞洲法律中心行政總監、法律兼任教授Thomas Kellogg作小組討論。這場討論由大西洋理事會環球中國中心協理總監Matt Geraci主持。
Thomas Kellogg談到「將法律當作武器打壓人權」，又指香港政府「不實地正面粉飾」國安法。Sophie Richardson反思香港47人案判刑，表示「任何人因參與非正式初選而入獄荒謬得很」。任建峰則強調法治的不可分割性，並補充「國安法帶來很多負面影響」。
請在此處觀看討論錄影。
香港監察研究及政策顧問華穆清表示：
「今天在香港47人案宣判後和在黎智英案續審前一天，我們清楚看到，香港法治急轉直下，國安法被用作政治目的。
不過，香港政府繼續發動全球大外宣，着重洗白其侵害人權行為，宣傳『一切如常』。這份報告駁斥這些說法，特別分析了法治如何影響普通市民和商界，並加以與以法治差聞名的司法管轄區比較。我們強烈促請有興趣在香港營商或與香港經商的企業及其他團體在風險評估時考慮這些因素。」