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China moves to enact security law in an effort to quell independence protests in Hong Kong

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HONG KONG — China has officially ratified a plan to write a national security law for Hong Kong, exerting Beijing's broader, new control over the semi-autonomous territory in a bid to prevent a return of the months of often-violent protests last year.

China’s ceremonial legislature approved a decision by the ruling Communist Party to impose national security laws on Hong Kong.

The Beijing-backed Hong Kong government sought to assure its citizens that the law would not infringe on their freedoms.

The pro-democracy opposition described the move as the end of the core values that set the former British colony apart from the rest of China.