Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong democracy activist and the publisher of Apple Daily, has been arrested under the new national-security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong. The arrest featured a massive raid featuring hundreds of police. He’s not the only prominent person arrested today. So were his two sons. And so was Agnes Chow, another renowned activist. These arrests highlight that democratic political speech is subjected to the law, not just “rioting” or demonstration.
Apple Daily, for its part, is bravely vowing to be even more fearless and urging its journalists and subscribers to stick to their posts, and “endure” to the end.
Meanwhile, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China continue to deteriorate. China is sanctioning several human-rights organizations as a response to President Trump’s signing of the Hong Kong Act, which sanctioned eleven Chinese officials.
China and the U.S. both have many more cards to play. Though I think the U.S. has the most devastating one. Serious restrictions on buying property in the U.S. or matriculating at a U.S. college imposed on all members of the Chinese Communist Party would really put a strain on things internally in China. Many elite party members use the U.S. as a place to stash money and assets.