Three years ago, Hong Kong rose up in an extraordinary defence of the freedoms that had been promised to it until 2047 on its return to China, but which were fast vanishing. The one in four people who protested were under no illusion that they would win. Yet nor did they anticipate quite how swiftly and ruthlessly the authorities would crush them and impose a draconian national security law.
Matters have only got worse. The judiciary, media, academia and civil society are under unrelenting pressure. Last month, John Lee – the security chief who oversaw the crackdown – was voted in as Hong Kong’s new chief executive by the city’s election committee, made up of about 0.02% of the city’s population. He was the sole candidate. Days later, 90-year-old Cardinal Zen, Hong Kong’s most senior (and beloved) Catholic cleric, was arrested for his involvement with a fund that had provided legal and financial assistance to people prosecuted over the protests.
