Hong Kong security law unveils strict penalties, broad Beijing powers

Beijing unveiled national security legislation tailor-made for Hong Kong on Tuesday, promising to punish the crimes of secession and subversion with up to life in prison and raising concerns of a more authoritarian era for China's most freewheeling city. Details of the law are expected to increase tensions with the United States, Britain, and other Western governments that fear it will erode freedoms in the global financial hub.

Beijing says the law is necessary to tackle secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, following anti-government protests that escalated in June last year and plunged the city into its biggest crisis in decades.