Recently, a six-page internal document that the Central Committee and the State Council issued was revealed to the public. The document was dated May 20. It stipulates that there are a series of 20 political words and actions that are “not allowed” outside the working hours of the party members of the Central Committee and state organs.

Below is a partial list from the document of what is “not allowed.”

1. Expressing different opinions, especially making statements that deviate from the ‘two safeguards’ [Editor’s note: the two safeguards (两个维护) means resolutely safeguarding the core position of General Party Secretary Xi Jinping and the core position of the party; safeguarding the authority of the party and its centralized and unified leadership];
2. Making a “low level compliment or high-level praise with a manipulative or sarcastic undertone (低级红、高级黑)”;
3. Browsing reactionary websites and listening to or watching foreign reactionary radio and television programs;
4. Accepting media interviews, especially from foreign media;
5. Publishing “internal” information from work;
6. Ignoring the demands of the public using non-working hours as the excuse;
7. Forming an alumni association or a comrade’s association;
8. Disseminating speech that violates the party’s theories, guidelines, and policies;
9. Disapproving of the Central Authorities;
10. Discussing or disseminating political rumors and remarks that tarnish the image of the party and the country;
11. Forming cliques and factions within the party;
12. Becoming a two-faced person.

Source: New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), June 7, 2020
https://ntdtv.com/gb/2020/06/07/a102865262.html

After the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs was recently elevated to the Central Leading Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, the group leader Han Zheng met with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in Beijing. According to Beijing’s mouthpiece, the Xinhua News Agency, Han said that the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp law making body, will pass laws in the next step to “punish the very few people who commit serious crimes and activities that endanger national security.”

Other attendees at the meeting were Zhao Kezhi, deputy head of the Leading Group and Minister of Public Security, and Xia Baolong, Vice Chair of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and another deputy head of the Leading Group.

This was the first appearance of the Central Leading Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs. In 2003, the CCP set up the Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, the coordination mechanism for Hong Kong and Macao issues. Han Zheng, Vice Premier of the State Council, has been the head of the Coordination Group since 2018.

Liu Zhaojia from the Beijing based China Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said that this organizational change, from Coordination Group to Leading Group, shows that Beijing is now exerting a higher authority to direct relevant ministries and agencies to deal with the Hong Kong issue. In the organizational structure of the Chinese Communist Party, “Commission” stays at the highest level, followed by “Leadership Group”, then by “Coordination Group.” At present, Hong Kong has been involved in the game play between China and the US, so the elevation of the body along the power ladder is no surprise.

Source: Central News Agency, June 3, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202006030370.aspx

Article 4 of the Hong Kong national security law, which Beijing recently approved, requires Hong Kong to establish institutions to protect national security and provides for a central government presence in Hong Kong to maintain national security.

The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission is the Chinese Communist Party’s top apparatus that oversees all legal enforcement authorities, including the police force. Its official website states that it is very necessary for the central government to establish dedicated agencies in Hong Kong. “In the national security arena of Hong Kong, one should not only ‘set up defense lines’ but should also ‘pitch camp.’ Both are necessary and effective means to perform the duties of maintaining national security.”

The article also explained two adjustments in the draft of the bill. The article points to the revision that adds the word “activities” after the “conduct” so that the term becomes “conduct and activities that endanger national security.” The addition allows not only personal conduct but also organized activities (to be covered), making the coverage of the law “more precise.”

The article claimed that the change will mean those “who engage in division, subversion, terrorist acts and activities will not take a chance, and the law shall not be challenged.”

In the sentence that the Chief Executive of Hong Kong should “carry out promotion and education of national security,” the word “promotion” is deleted. The article considers the change to be an emphasis on the attitude toward national security education. “National security education should not stop with propaganda; it should have a real effect and enter the heart of every Hong Kong citizen.”

Source: Central News Agency, May 30, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202005300229.aspx