Explainer: Hong Kong’s National Security Crackdown – Month 60

Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 60

Hong Kong authorities had a busy month as June marked the fifth anniversary of the Beijing-imposed national security law. In the run-up to the anniversary, Chief Executive John Lee and his ministers issued statements warning of “soft resistance,” while Xia Baolong, Beijing’s top official on Hong Kong affairs, visited Hong Kong to attend a national security forum. The crackdown also continued. Earlier in June, jailed activist Joshua Wong was brou…

Bleak Assessments of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, Five Years On

June 30 marked the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s imposition of a heavy-handed national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong, which has altered the sociopolitical landscape of the city by undermining its democratic institutions, weakening civil society, and severely curtailing a wide range of freedoms. In the last five years, groups of opposition politicians have been jailed, labor unions and universities cowed, once prominent media outlets shuttered…