{"id":1841704,"date":"2026-03-23T10:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T07:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1841704"},"modified":"2026-03-23T10:24:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T07:24:45","slug":"hong-kongs-last-democratic-opposition-party-disbands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1841704","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong’s last democratic opposition party disbands"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76482997_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5AucW<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
Under the rule, police with warrants can force anyone to unlock electronic equipment that is believed to hold evidenceImage: Peter Parks\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Hong Kong<\/a> government on Monday announced that anyone refusing to give up phone or computer passwords in investigations related to national security<\/a> could face up to a year in prison.<\/p>\n

The new rule is part of a raft of amendments to Hong Kong’s national security law<\/a>, which was imposed by China<\/a> in 2020 following huge pro-democracy protests<\/a> in the semi-autonomous city.<\/p>\n

It requires people to provide “any password or other decryption method” necessary to allow police with warrants to access electronic equipment that is believed to hold evidence.<\/p>\n

Those who fail\u00a0to comply could face a fine of up to HK$100,000 ($12,700; \u20ac11,000) or a one-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n

What does the law say?<\/h2>\n

The amendment applies to people who are under investigation for endangering national security, as well as anyone who owns, controls, or is authorized to access the equipment in question. It also covers anyone who knows the password or decryption method.<\/p>\n

The law stipulates that the obligation applies even where there is a “duty of confidentiality or any other restriction on the disclosure of information,”\u00a0for example, in cases involving journalists, doctors, and lawyers.<\/p>\n

A government spokesperson said the new rules were designed to ensure that “activities endangering national security can be effectively prevented, suppressed and punished, and at the same time the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organizations are adequately protected.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hong Kong’s government and China\u00a0say\u00a0the national security law<\/a>\u00a0brought stability to the financial hub following the massive 2019 anti-government protests.\u00a0However, human rights organizations and Western governments say authorities have used the Beijing-imposed measure\u00a0to roll back democratic freedoms and crush political dissent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Hong Kong’s last democratic opposition party disbands<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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The Hong Kong<\/a> government on Monday announced that anyone refusing to give up phone or computer passwords in investigations related to national security<\/a> could face up to a year in prison.<\/p>\n

The new rule is part of a raft of amendments to Hong Kong’s national security law<\/a>, which was imposed by China<\/a> in 2020 following huge pro-democracy protests<\/a> in the semi-autonomous city.<\/p>\n

It requires people to provide “any password or other decryption method” necessary to allow police with warrants to access electronic equipment that is believed to hold evidence.<\/p>\n

Those who fail\u00a0to comply could face a fine of up to HK$100,000 ($12,700; \u20ac11,000) or a one-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n

What does the law say?<\/h2>\n

The amendment applies to people who are under investigation for endangering national security, as well as anyone who owns, controls, or is authorized to access the equipment in question. It also covers anyone who knows the password or decryption method.<\/p>\n

The law stipulates that the obligation applies even where there is a “duty of confidentiality or any other restriction on the disclosure of information,”\u00a0for example, in cases involving journalists, doctors, and lawyers.<\/p>\n

A government spokesperson said the new rules were designed to ensure that “activities endangering national security can be effectively prevented, suppressed and punished, and at the same time the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organizations are adequately protected.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hong Kong’s government and China\u00a0say\u00a0the national security law<\/a>\u00a0brought stability to the financial hub following the massive 2019 anti-government protests.\u00a0However, human rights organizations and Western governments say authorities have used the Beijing-imposed measure\u00a0to roll back democratic freedoms and crush political dissent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Hong Kong’s last democratic opposition party disbands<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Hong Kong<\/a> government on Monday announced that anyone refusing to give up phone or computer passwords in investigations related to national security<\/a> could face up to a year in prison.<\/p>\n

The new rule is part of a raft of amendments to Hong Kong’s national security law<\/a>, which was imposed by China<\/a> in 2020 following huge pro-democracy protests<\/a> in the semi-autonomous city.<\/p>\n

It requires people to provide “any password or other decryption method” necessary to allow police with warrants to access electronic equipment that is believed to hold evidence.<\/p>\n

Those who fail\u00a0to comply could face a fine of up to HK$100,000 ($12,700; \u20ac11,000) or a one-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n

The amendment applies to people who are under investigation for endangering national security, as well as anyone who owns, controls, or is authorized to access the equipment in question. It also covers anyone who knows the password or decryption method.<\/p>\n

The law stipulates that the obligation applies even where there is a “duty of confidentiality or any other restriction on the disclosure of information,”\u00a0for example, in cases involving journalists, doctors, and lawyers.<\/p>\n

A government spokesperson said the new rules were designed to ensure that “activities endangering national security can be effectively prevented, suppressed and punished, and at the same time the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organizations are adequately protected.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hong Kong’s government and China\u00a0say\u00a0the national security law<\/a>\u00a0brought stability to the financial hub following the massive 2019 anti-government protests.\u00a0However, human rights organizations and Western governments say authorities have used the Beijing-imposed measure\u00a0to roll back democratic freedoms and crush political dissent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher<\/em><\/p>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/hong-kong-new-rule-forces-people-to-surrender-passwords\/a-76482612″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76482997_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5AucW Under the rule, police with warrants can force anyone to unlock electronic equipment that is believed to hold evidenceImage: Peter Parks\/AFP\/Getty Images The Hong Kong government on Monday announced that anyone refusing to give up phone or computer passwords in investigations related to national security could face up to a year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1841704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1841704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1841704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1841704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1841704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}