Hong Kong’s New Reality Arrives in Force

China describes Hong Kong’s new security law as a “sword of Damocles” hanging over its most strident critics. But the way it’s written, this legislation threatens everybody everywhere.

The framers of the law in Beijing gave it an unlimited geographical scope: the crackdown on civil liberties applies equally to residents of New York and Paris as it does to those in Hong Kong. And it covers just about every conceivable action Beijing might deem a threat, with vaguely worded offenses such as secession, sedition, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

Then there’s the maximum prison term stipulated by the new law: life.

Read the full story and more in Bloomberg.