Timeline of reactions to the 2020 Hong Kong national security law (July 2021)
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After the 1 July police stabbing, Hong Kong police and the government characterized the incident as a "lone wolf" terrorist attack. Foreign media saw the stabbing as a sign of a steep decline of the reputation of the police in the eyes of some locals, a process that had begun with the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. They also considered the uncovering of a bomb plot on 5 July as evidence of a polarization in society,[1][2] and pointed to the influence of diminishing legal ways to voice dissent in the year since the national security law came into effect.[1] At the beginning of the month, the police arrested citizens who posted on the Internet for inciting others to kill the police.[3][4] Later it persecuted members of the student union of Hong Kong University for having passed a motion, subsequently withdrawn, that had praised the "sacrifice" of the deceased attacker of 1 July.[5]
The first trial under the national security law concluded on 30 July with a nine-year sentence. Defendant Tong Ying-kit, who on 1 July 2020 had driven a motorcycle into policemen while flying the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times", had been tried by appointed national security judges and had been unable to obtain bail under the stringent national security bail conditions. Much of the time in the 15-day trial was taken by arguments about whether the slogan constituted a call for independence. The judges eventually embraced the argument by the prosecution that the slogan was "intended to communicate secessionist meaning" and was "capable of inciting others to commit secession". In view of the wide use of the slogan during the 2019–2020 protests, this was seen by observers as setting a precedent for future convictions.[6] The sentence was considered as excessively harsh by critics from the democracy camp.[7] Tong appealed his sentence; the retrial was scheduled for March 2022.[8]
On 31 July, the Education Bureau cut ties with the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union hours after the union had come under attack by Chinese state media. The bureau justified its move by claiming that the union had been "dragging schools into politics". The move was seen by observers as another reflection of governmental pressure on civic society.[9]
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on 6 July that the government would strengthen its efforts to improve the supervision of social media to combat fake news or incitement of violence. She related the 1 July stabbing to the lax regulations to date. She said that all departments and government organizations would take part in the improvement.[10]