On May 28, China’s national lawmakers voted at the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, and approved a decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security. The adoption of the decision marks a key step in further improving the principle of “one country, two systems.”

After the announcement, officials and experts from African countries have expressed their support for China's decision on national security legislation for the HKSAR and condemned external interference on the issue.

Zimbabwe has reaffirmed its adherence to the one-China policy. On May 28, Zimbabwean Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the new law will help consolidate HKSAR’s security and stability, and protect it from Western interference.

Western countries that are obsessed with interventions always want to see people divided, Mutsvangwa said. “We are very much for the one-China policy and that is what we support as a country.”

The minister said the foreign intervention aimed at destabilizing the HKSAR was a “disgrace,” which should be discouraged. “Where there is unity, where there is peace, there is certainly development, so we support that law. We only hope that foreign intervention does not continue to happen, because what it does (is to) actually bring disunity and discord in a country and affect the rate of development in China,” she said.

On the same day, Nigerien Minister of Foreign Affairs Andourao Kalla also expressed support to the decision when he met with Chinese Ambassador to Niger Zhang Lijun. He said that every country has the right to pass legislation to protect the national security of its own country. Niger fully understands the decision.

Also, on May 30, Tanzania’s government spokesperson and director at the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Hassan Abbas, expressed continuity of the country’s support on sovereignty of China over its territory and national security in relation to the HKSAR.

He said Tanzania believes that the implementation of the national security legislation for the HKSAR will not only fill the gaps in the region’s legal system for safeguarding national security, but also help it restore normal social order. Abbas also stated that the HKSAR affairs are China's internal matter and should be handled by China itself, and other countries have no right to interfere.

On June 1, Humphrey Moshi, Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at University of Dar es Salaam, said enacting this law is timely and appropriate as HKSAR’s legislature has been so hampered by filibustering.

Moshi noted that the HKSAR has been facing increasingly violent anti-government protests. Some demonstrators have been deploying terrorist tactics since last June. The region urgently needs this legal measure to safeguard national security as the threat of violence continues to escalate.

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