Hong Kong chief calls opponents "enemy of the people"

Hong Kong chief calls opponents "enemy of the people"

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday urged opponents of Beijing's plan to impose national security legislation in the financial hub to stop "smearing" the effort, saying those who did were "the enemy of the people".

Libby Hogan reports.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has called anyone who opposes China's plan to introduce national security legislation the "enemy of the people".

She urged opponents on Tuesday (June 16) to stop smearing the effort.

Beijing announced the proposed legislation in Hong Kong last month that tackles secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference, and could see Chinese security agencies set up in the city.

"I urge opponents who still use the usual tactics to demonise and smear the (legislation) work to stop.

Because by doing this they're making themselves the enemy of the Hong Kong people." Lam's Beijing-backed city administration says the law will bring stability, and will target a small number of "troublemakers".

But critics see it as the most serious threat to the "one country, two systems" formula aimed at ensuring Hong Kong's freedoms and proecting its role as a financial centre.

Restrictions on social distancing, which currently only permit gatherings of eight people, are due to expire on Thursday.

The government will relax the rules, but they will not be completely scrapped.

The restrictions have helped limit numbers at demonstrations, with police citing the coronavirus in rejecting applications for rallies.

But many locals continue to risk arrest and are joining protests.

"Remember why we started this whole revolution, the whole movement.

And it is really important for people to remember how sad it is to lose even just one of us." More than a year since anti-government protests first erupted in the city, hundreds of people gathered again last night.

Patiently queing for hours in a line that wrapped around the block, to lay flowers at the spot where a protester fell to his death last year.

The national security law is expected to be enacted before September.