Police clear protesters from Hong Kong mall

Hong Kong police on Monday cleared a group of protesters who gathered in a shopping mall in the central business district to demonstrate against the controversial new national security law.

The law, imposed by China following anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city's internal affairs.

Any person taking part in activities such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the city's independence is violating the law regardless of whether violence is used.

Protesters on Monday believed they were getting around the law by holding up blank pieces of paper.

"We feel worried that we may be convicted for expressing our views. We heard from Carrie Lam on news one day that the slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times' connotes secession. That's why we are using white paper instead," said protester Anthea Wong.

Police marched into the shopping mall and searched the bags of a few protesters before releasing them all.

Hong Kong police made the first arrests last week under the new law imposed by China's central government, as thousands of people defied tear gas and pepper pellets to protest against the contentious move on the anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule.

The law's passage further blurs the distinction between the legal systems of Hong Kong, which maintained aspects of British law after the 1997 handover, and the mainland's authoritarian Communist Party system.

Critics say the law effectively ends the "one country, two systems" framework under which Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy.