As Hong Kong citizens continue their pro-democracy battle against the city's leadership and mainland China, Beijing is using all means to convince the world that the anti-national security law will benefit the city's economy including the tourism sector.

Tourism is one of Hong Kong's four pillar industries. According to a government data stated by the South China Morning Post, tourist arrivals dropped 40 per cent in August 2019.

"There is no peaceful environment for us to do business here. The unrest has resulted in a series of social problems and has scared visitors away. The businesses in Hong Kong generally understand and support the central authorities' decision to enact national security laws for Hong Kong and expect the legislation to bring back stability to the community," Xinhua quoted Felix Chung, a LegCo member representing the business sector.

In the name of strengthening the 'one country, two systems'and ensuring that the freedoms granted to Hong Kong can be extended beyond 2047, Chinese authorities has said that the national security legislation will be banning subversion, secession, terrorism and foreign interference.

While China is using such tactics to impose the national security law in Hong Kong, the city's citizens are  are fighting tooth and nail to maintain their special statu.

For over a year, Hong Kong citizens have been out on the  streets protesting against the extradition bill, which would have allowed criminal suspects in the city to be sent to mainland China for trial.

On June 9 last year, more than one million people held demonstrations against the government's attempt to legalise extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China. In September that year, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the withdrawal of the extradition bill.

The five demands of the protestors are -- withdrawal of the extradition bill, an independent commission of inquiry to investigate rights abuses, an end to the prosecution of protesters, an end to the false labelling of the protests as "riots", and genuine universal suffrage in the elections of the Chief Executive and Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

However, the rest of the demands such as universal suffrage
and an inquiry into alleged police brutality -- have been rejected by the city's leadership and Beijing, Al Jazeera reported.
 
According to the Sino-British joint declaration, signed in Beijing on December 19, 1984, by the Prime Ministers of China and Britain, Zhao Ziyang and Margaret Thatcher, it was agreed that China would reassume control of Hong Kong from July 1, 1997.

The main body of the treaty has eight articles and three annexes and it states that China's basic policies regarding Hong Kong "will remain unchanged for 50 years", including the promise that the city would retain a high degree of autonomy.

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