China will improve national security in Hong Kong, Premier Li Keqiang said Friday, a day after Beijing announced dramatic plans to rein in dissent by writing a new law into the city’s charter.
"We will establish sound legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security in the two special administrative regions, and see that the governments of the two regions fulfill their constitutional responsibilities,” Li said according to prepared remarks. He added that the government would push ahead with a plan to integrate the city with others in southern China.
"This is the end of Hong Kong,” said Dennis Kwok, an opposition lawmaker representing the legal sector. "I foresee that the status of Hong Kong as an international city will be gone very soon.”