Hong Kong mass arrests: A stark step in Beijing’s ‘drive for control’
A year ago, newly elected Hong Kong district counselor Fergus Leung was in high spirits as he stood outside a high-rise public housing block on Hong Kong Island, cheerily greeting constituents. In a white button-down shirt and wire-rimmed glasses, the earnest young University of Hong Kong student fielded questions on garbage bins and rent hikes, pledging to help supporters and win over skeptics alike.
But in a sign of how dramatically Beijing has curtailed political freedoms in Hong Kong over the past six months, last week Mr. Leung and 52 other pro-democracy elected officials and activists – including one U.S. citizen – were snatched up and arrested in early-morning raids by about 1,000 Hong Kong police.
The alleged offense of Mr. Leung and his colleagues? Subversion, for what
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