Hong Kong authorities are calling on city residents to anonymously snitch on their neighbors via a new national security hotline that many pro-independence and human rights groups fear may be easy to exploit and further divide the region.
“To facilitate the provision of information or reports related to national security, the National Security Service of the Hong Kong Police Force has officially launched the ‘NSSA Reporting Hotline’ today,” the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) announced in a translated Thursday news release.
Authorities emphasized that Hongkongers should only use the hotline to issue non-emergency reports pertaining to matters of national security.
“The telephone hotline does not answer any calls and does not reply. In addition, the hotline is not used for general reporting, and if you want to report it, please call the nearby police station or 999,” the release emphasized.
Information gathered via the snitch line will be utilized by agents in the HKPF’s National Security Department.
The hotline can be reached by SMS, WeChat or LINE.
A Hong Kong government source told the South China Morning Post that the NSSA Reporting Hotline was first suggested in July as an enforcement tool of the Beijing-implemented Hong Kong national security law.
Amnesty International has classified the national security law as “dangerously vague and broad,” as “virtually anything could be deemed a threat to ‘national security’ under its provisions, and it can apply to anyone on the planet.”
A protester holds a “Free Hong Kong revolution” flag during a rally calling China to release 12 Hong Kong people arrested at sea by mainland authorities, in Taipei
Maya Wang, senior China researcher with the Human Rights Watch, denounced the NSSA Reporting Hotline on social media, arguing the system is “replicating the Chinese Communist Party’s model of relying on grassroots informants.”
“It will be a serious blow to freedom in Hong Kong and will undermine the trust between people … much of the reports will be related to individuals’ political opinions,” he asserted prior to the HKPF announcement.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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