FILE - In this June 11, 2021, a summons surface shows a country of the movie "Far From Home", center, a abbreviated astir the governmental part successful Hong Kong pursuing the anti-government protests successful 2019, astatine a cinema successful Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities connected Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, said they planned to amend a movie censorship instrumentality that would contradict screenings of movies deemed contrary to nationalist security, according to authorities officials. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - In this June 11, 2021, a summons surface shows a country of the movie "Far From Home", center, a abbreviated astir the governmental part successful Hong Kong pursuing the anti-government protests successful 2019, astatine a cinema successful Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities connected Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, said they planned to amend a movie censorship instrumentality that would contradict screenings of movies deemed contrary to nationalist security, according to authorities officials. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong authorities connected Tuesday said they program to amend a movie censorship instrumentality to forbid screenings of movies deemed contrary to nationalist security.

The projected changes to Hong Kong’s Film Censorship Ordinance would measurement up censorship of movies successful the semi-autonomous city, expanding an ongoing crackdown connected governmental dissent that has led to the closure of assorted pro-democracy organizations and the arrests of dozens of activists.

The amendments would necessitate a censor to find whether a movie contains elements that endanger nationalist security. Older movies that were antecedently allowed to beryllium screened could besides person their approvals revoked connected nationalist information grounds.

“We request this proviso to cater for circumstances wherever a movie which was created oregon approved earlier — but fixed the caller instrumentality enacted and the caller guidelines issued — determination mightiness beryllium chances that we request to reconsider specified cases,” Edward Yau, caput for commerce and economical development, said astatine a quality league Tuesday.

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The changes would use to films made successful Hong Kong arsenic good arsenic those produced elsewhere. Hong Kong's movie manufacture is wide known for directors specified arsenic Wong Kar-wai, Tsui Hark, John Woo and Stanley Kwan and actors including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat, Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Maggie Cheung.

Those who interruption the ordinance and surface banned movies could look up to 3 years successful jailhouse and a good of 1 cardinal Hong Kong dollars ($128,400).

The changes to the law, if passed, instrumentality the metropolis a measurement person to censorship levels successful mainland China, wherever authorities person the powerfulness to artifact movies, TV shows and contented deemed politically delicate oregon contrary to the values of the Chinese Communist Party.

Britain handed Hong Kong implicit to mainland China successful 1997 nether a “one country, 2 systems” model that allowed it freedoms not recovered connected the mainland for 50 years, including escaped speech, state of the property and state of expression.

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But critics accidental Hong Kong is accelerated losing those freedoms aft Beijing's imposition of a pugnacious nationalist information instrumentality connected the metropolis successful June past twelvemonth pursuing months of governmental strife and anti-government protests successful 2019.

The instrumentality — which outlaws secession, subversion, coercion and overseas collusion to intervene successful the city’s affairs — has been utilized to apprehension implicit 100 pro-democracy figures.

Multiple pro-democracy organizations, specified arsenic rally organizer Civil Human Rights Front and the pro-democracy Professional Teachers’ Union, person disbanded amid allegations they violated the information legislation.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.