ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - March 20, 2024

ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - March 20, 2024

ZeroFox physical security experts collect, curate, and analyze information derived from open and proprietary sources for comprehensive context of the circumstances surrounding global events. Here is today’s daily roundup of major developments.

Brief Highlights

• Hong Kong Passes New National Security Law
• Nepal Forms a New Coalition Government Favoring China
• North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Between Japan and South Korea

Hong Kong Passes New National Security Law

On March 19, Hong Kong unanimously passed a new national security bill after only two weeks of review. The speed at which Hong Kong approved the strict law will raise more concerns that it would threaten Hong Kong's freedom and its status as an international financial hub. Hong Kong’s legislative council, which now consists of mainly pro-China loyalists, voted to pass the law after three readings, and it will now go into effect on March 23 instead of mid-April, which was previously predicted as the start date. The legislation, known as Article 23, broadens the definition of convictions and imposes stiffer penalties on treason, sabotage, sedition, the theft of state secrets, and espionage, ranging from several years to life imprisonment. The new bill comes on top of an earlier China-imposed national security law, allowing the city’s authorities more power to criminalize what may previously be considered legal, causing fear that it could be used to intimate and restrict free speech and curb dissent. The new legislation also makes Hong Kong more similar to other mainland Chinese cities, both politically and economically, gradually losing its uniqueness as an international financial hub and a shortcut to China’s domestic market.

Nepal Forms a New Coalition Government Favoring China

Nepal’s two largest communist parties joined forces to form a new coalition government that favors China over India. The new alliance follows the Maldives also pushing out Indian influence, where a new pro-China leader vowed to end the nation’s “India first” policy. The breakdown of the pro-India grouping suggests that some political parties in Nepal do not trust India, and the dislike leads them to lean toward China as a counterbalance to India’s influence. On the other hand, India regained diplomatic ground in Sri Lanka, which it lost to China, and held a stronger position in Bhutan and Bangladesh. China and India have competing claims over the Himalayan borders with Nepal, and shoring up allies with neighboring countries is strategically important. India and China have a border dispute just outside of Nepalese territory, and while Nepal is culturally closer to India, China has been gaining ground through investments in Nepal.

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Between Japan and South Korea

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul, South Korea. The missiles were launched from the Pyongyang area and traveled nearly 200 miles before landing in the East Sea near both Japan and South Korea. The launches are North Korea's first in roughly a month and come days after the end of annual U.S.-South Korean military drills in the region that North Korea has described as proactive. North Korea has long denounced the military drills as rehearsals for an invasion against it. Tensions in 2024 in the region remain higher than normal with the rate of North Korean missile and artillery launches higher than normal along with the rhetoric from North Korea. In January, North Korea said it would rewrite the constitution to eliminate the country's long-standing goal of seeking peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has also been more public about its alliances with Russia and China.