No compromising national security

Hong Kong police arrested more than 370 people for offenses such as unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct in public places on Wednesday, of whom 10 were arrested for potential violations of the new national security law for the special administrative region, which came into effect the night before.

If this was not enough to convince those intent on causing trouble in the SAR that the law will be resolutely enforced, the statements by the principal officials of the Hong Kong government published on Sunday should have hammered home the message that after more than a year of turmoil in the SAR, enough is enough.

In separate articles published on the front page of a local newspaper, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the principal officials in her administration pledged that they would do their best to ensure the effective implementation of the new national security law.

The articles made it clear that all government departments will shoulder their responsibilities to implement the law effectively to ensure social stability and safeguard national security.

Now both the central authorities in Beijing and the HKSAR government have made it unambiguously clear that they will no longer tolerate acts in the SAR that endanger national security. Challenging the national security law, whether driven by some misguided idealism or some outlandish political objectives, is anything but a wise move. Particularly for youngsters, who if convicted of crimes endangering national security will not only serve a lengthy prison sentence but also carry for the rest of their lives a criminal record that will impede their career prospects.

Which is why it is important to raise awareness of the national security law among Hong Kong's youth in particular. Cultivating a sense of national identity and a correct conception of history will help prevent young people from being led astray and manipulated by ill-willed forces.

People around the world should be aware of the double standard and hypocrisy of the small number of countries which have taken issue with Hong Kong's new law. Any fair-minded person will have no difficulty in realizing that those countries have raised objections merely due to their ideological bias, or out of consideration for their own geopolitical interests.

Meanwhile, members of the opposition camp in Hong Kong, particularly the political fanatics among their ranks, must now come down to earth, and be realistic. To be relevant to Hong Kong's future socioeconomic development, they must change their mentality and seek constructive ways to improve the well-being of Hong Kong and its residents.

They should accept that the toxic and destructive politics they have been indulging in for two decades have reached a dead end.