The Hong Kong Bar Association called on the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint and said the comments by Beijing’s representatives “could easily be perceived as interference” in contravention of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the local Constitution. Late Friday the liaison office responded that as Beijing’s designated representative in the city, the prohibitions on departments of China’s central government interfering in Hong Kong affairs did not apply.
Lau Siu-kai, vice president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a powerful Beijing advisory group, said that the arrests on Saturday represented an early step toward a broader crackdown by Beijing on the Hong Kong opposition.
The arrests reflect an assessment by Beijing that protests in Hong Kong over the past year pose such a threat to national security that it is worthwhile to defy American threats of retaliation if a crackdown takes place, he said.
“Now Beijing is calling the U.S.’s bluff and taking the initial steps against the Hong Kong opposition, and there will be more steps to shrink their space,” said Mr. Lau, who was also a senior Hong Kong government official in the years immediately after Britain’s return of the city to Chinese sovereignty.
A Communist Party gathering late last year in Beijing, the so-called fourth plenum, set a new tone for policy in Hong Kong that will be carried out this year, Mr. Lau said. “This is the time to end the chaos in Hong Kong,” he said. “After the fourth plenum, Beijing is determined to end the chaos in Hong Kong once and for all.”
The high-profile arrests were made as Hong Kong, already rocked by last year’s demonstrations, battled to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which has quieted down the huge street protests but fueled further distrust of the authorities. The protests have been largely without leaders, a tactic that diminishes the effect that the arrest of prominent figures will have on the broader movement.
Some of those arrested on Saturday represented an older generation of pro-democracy figures who advocated peaceful methods even as the protests grew increasingly violent last year, and to some extent were dismissed by younger activists as too moderate. Convictions could bar some of them from seeking office this year, when Hong Kong holds legislative elections in September.
Source : Nytimes
