China expands scope of Hong Kong security legislation – Reuters

Citing the stories from the Chinese media outlets, RTHK and the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Wednesday, Reuters reports that Beijing has widened the scope of draft national security legislation for Hong Kong, in a bid to include organizations as well as individuals.

The Chinese media reported, “the law was being revised to cover not just behavior or acts that endanger national security, but also activities.”

RTHK said: “Mainland lawyers who have handled national security cases in the past say this change could bring not just individuals, but also organizations under the scope of the law.”

Market reaction

The market mood remains tepid so far this Wednesday’s Asian trading, with the above reports likely to further escalate the tensions between the US and China on the Hong Kong’s autonomy issue.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that he is preparing to take action against China this week over its effort to impose national security laws on Hong Kong, 

AUD/USD is trading modestly flat around 0.6650, having retreated from multi-years tops of 0.6676 reached on Tuesday. Meanwhile, USD/JPY trades on the back foot around mid-107s, at the time of writing.