Pro-Beijing protest outside US consulate in HK

Pro-Beijing legislators and about 20 supporters gathered outside the US Consulate in Hong Kong on Thursday to condemn US interference over the national security law recently imposed in the territory.

Lawmaker Elizabeth Quat said pro-democracy protests against the legislation on Wednesday, in which about 370 people were arrested, showed the legislation had been necessary to "restore" a peaceful environment in Hong Kong.

Another legislator Holden Chow claimed the group had collected 1.5 million signatures from Hong Kong citizens in support of the law.

But the consulate refused to receive the petition, so the demonstrators made a point of leaving it outside the entrance.

The law, which took effect Tuesday, outlaws what China deems secessionist, subversive, and terrorist acts, as well as any collusion with foreign forces when it comes to the intervening in the city’s affairs.

Critics say the law effectively ends the “one country, two systems” framework under which the city was promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.