9 held for breaching security regulation

Hong Kong police made the first arrests under the new national security law on Wednesday.

Police arrested more than 300 people for illegal assembly and other offenses, nine of them for breaching the new national security law which took effect on Tuesday.

Earlier Wednesday, police cited the law for the first time in confronting illegal protesters.

“You are displaying flags or banners/chanting slogans/or conducting yourselves with an intent such as secession or subversion, which may constitute offenses under the ... national security law,” police said in a message displayed on a purple banner.

The new law will punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

Any flag or banner promoting Hong Kong’s separation from China or express support for “independence” for Tibet, Xinjiang or Taiwan is illegal under the law.

Police said the first two national security arrests were for people possessing signs promoting independence. Police said one man with a “Hong Kong independence” flag was arrested at an illegal assembly in the city’s Causeway Bay shopping district.

Police arrested another woman for holding up a sign displaying the British flag and calling for “Hong Kong’s independence.”

Three other women were detained for possessing items advocating independence.

“Advocacy for independence of Hong Kong is against the law,” security minister John Lee told reporters.

Many of those attending the illegal assemblies chanted independence slogans.

Police said one officer was stabbed in the shoulder as he tried to make an arrest. Police posted pictures on Twitter of an officer with a bleeding arm saying he was stabbed by “rioters holding sharp objects.” The suspects fled while bystanders offered no help, police said.

Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have repeatedly said the legislation is aimed at a few “troublemakers” and will not affect rights and freedoms, nor investor interests.