Hong Kong lawmakers unanimously approved a new national security law Tuesday that grants the government more power to quash dissent, reports the AP, widely seen as the latest step in a sweeping political crackdown triggered by pro-democracy protests in 2019. The Safeguarding National Security Bill will expand the authorities' ability to prosecute citizens for offenses including "colluding with external forces" to commit illegal acts, as well as charge them with treason, insurrection, espionage, and disclosing state secrets, among others. It comes on top of a similar security law Beijing imposed in 2020, which has already largely silenced opposition voices in the financial hub.