China appointed a hardliner to head a new national security agency in Hong Kong Friday as police brought the first charges under a sweeping new anti-subversion law that has shaken the semi-autonomous finance hub.

Zheng Yanxiong -- a party official best known for tackling protests on the mainland -- will lead the office set up by the legislation that empowers mainland security agents to operate in Hong Kong openly for the first time, unbound by the city's laws.

The appointment came as a man accused of deliberately driving his motorbike into a group of police officers became the first person in Hong Kong to be charged under the new national security law.

China's authoritarian leaders say the suite of powers will restore stability after a year of protests and will not stifle freedoms.

But police have already begun arresting people for possessing flags and banners while the local government has made clear certain political views, especially calls for independence, are now outlawed.

On Thursday evening Nathan Law, one of the city's most prominent young activists, announced he had fled overseas to an undisclosed location, fearing arrest days after the pro-democracy party he helped found said it was disbanding.

Many western governments -- led by Britain and the United States -- have condemned the law and have angered Beijing by threatening to hit back with sanctions or offer sanctuary to Hong Kongers.

- ' A tough enforcer' -

The new national security agency is just one new element of Beijing's landmark law targeting subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.

The office has investigation and prosecution powers and will monitor intelligence related to national security and process cases, in some circumstances handing them over to the mainland for trial.

Zheng rose through the ranks of the local government in southern Guangdong province which borders Hong Kong, to serve as secretary general of the provincial Communist Party committee.

The 56-year-old is known as a hardliner who stamped out often-violent anti-corruption protests that erupted in Wukan, a village in the province, in 2011 after a local activist died in police custody.

"He is a tough enforcer, a law and order person," Willy Lam, an expert on China's Communist Party at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told AFP.

Hong Kong was rocked by several months of huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests last year, a movement which Beijing has vowed to end with its new security law.

China has dismissed protesters' demands for greater democracy and portrayed the unrest as a foreign plot to destabilise the motherland.

It has sought to ramp up oversight on Hong Kong's government.

On Friday, the State Council also named Luo Huining -- the current director of Beijing's Liaison Office in the city -- as the national security adviser to the newly-formed national security commission, chaired by Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

A loyalist of president Xi Jinping, Luo built a reputation for enforcing Communist Party discipline and tackling corruption.

Hong Kong's mini-constitution forbids mainland officials from interfering in the running of Hong Kong's day-to-day affairs.

But Beijing has argued national security is purely the purview of central authorities.

- Court charges -

The most serious offences carry up to life in jail.

On Friday afternoon, Tong Ying-kit, 23, was charged with the first national security crimes -- terrorism and inciting secession.

A police source told AFP Tong drove his motorbike into a group of police officers on Wednesday during protests against the security law, wounding three.

Video footage captured by local television showed a man on an orange motorbike with a flag reading "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times" -- a popular pro-democracy slogan -- moments before it hit a group of riot police.

Hong Kong's government have announced that using the phrase "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times" is illegal under the secession and subversion provisions.

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Hong Kong democracy party disbands over security law fears
Hong Kong (AFP) June 30, 2020
A youthful Hong Kong pro-democracy party founded by former student activists announced it was disbanding on Tuesday after Beijing passed a secretive national security law for the business hub. "After much internal deliberation, we have decided to disband and cease all operation as a group given the circumstances," Demosisto said on Twitter. The announcement came after four of the party's prominent figures - Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, Jeffrey Ngo and Agnes Chow - said they were ending their invol ... read more