<
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/world/asia/china-hong-kong-security-law.html>
"Hong Kong’s march toward an authoritarian future began with a single phrase in
a dry policy paper. Beijing, the document declared, would wield “comprehensive
jurisdiction” over the territory.
The paper, published in June 2014, signaled the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s
determination to tame political defiance in the former British colony, which
had kept its own laws and freedoms. But the words were dismissed by many as
intimidating swagger that the city’s robust legal system and democratic
opposition could face down.
Hong Kong now knows Mr. Xi’s ambitions with a stunned clarity. The paper marked
the opening of a contest for control in the city, culminating in the sweeping
national security law that few saw coming.
Since that law took force one year ago, Beijing has unleashed a stampede of
actions to bring Hong Kong into political lock step with the Chinese Communist
Party: arresting activists, seizing assets, firing government workers,
detaining newspaper editors and rewriting school curriculums.
While the clampdown seemed to arrive with startling speed, it was the
culmination of yearslong efforts in Beijing. Interviews with insiders and
advisers, as well as speeches, policy papers and state-funded studies, reveal
Chinese officials’ growing alarm over protests in Hong Kong; their impatience
with wavering among the city’s pro-Beijing ruling elite; and their growing
conviction that Hong Kong had become a haven for Western-backed subversion."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
