Hong Kong protest over proposed national security law met with tear gas - CNN

"Maybe it's not feasible in the near future, but that's ultimately what we want."

Anti-sedition law

China announced Thursday that it plans to introduce a new national security law in Hong Kong -- bypassing the city's legislature -- which is expected to ban sedition, secession and subversion against Beijing.

It also sent chills through the city's financial markets with Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index plummeting more than 5% on Friday, its worst one-day percentage drop since July 2015.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that Beijing must institute the law in Hong Kong without delay.

Speaking to reporters during the National's People's Congress, Wang said it is the role of China's central government to create a safeguard and enforcement mechanism for national security.

Safeguarding national security serves the fundamental interests of all Chinese people, including our HK compatriots," NPC spokesman Zhang Yesui told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.

Biggest blow since handover

Hong Kong has always prided itself on following the rule of law, with an independent judiciary and civil liberties far beyond what is allowed across the border in mainland China.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who died in 2017 after more than a decade behind bars, was convicted of "inciting subversion of state power."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the proposed national security law, warning that the passage of the legislation would be a "death knell" for Hong Kong's autonomy.

"The United States strongly urges Beijing to reconsider its disastrous proposal, abide by its international obligations, and respect Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, democratic institutions, and civil liberties, which are key to preserving its special status under US law," he said, adding that the US stands "with the people of Hong Kong."