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Arrests Seen as Ending Last Restraints on Chinese Rule in Hong Kong

Tommy Walker

   HONG KONG - With the roundup of more than 50 pro-democracy activists
   and their supporters this week, Hong Kong has thrown off the last
   restraints on who can be targeted under China's harsh new security law
   and for what reasons, human rights advocates say.

   Even so, at least some of the activists will continue to defy the rapid
   erosion of the broad political autonomy that had been promised the
   Chinese territory, said Benny Tai, a law professor and one of the
   highest-profile figures to have been arrested in the Wednesday sweep.

   "Hong Kong has entered a severe winter," Tai told reporters upon his
   release Thursday after 42 hours in police custody. "The wind is blowing
   fierce and cold. But I believe many Hong Kongers will continue to walk
   against the wind in their own way."

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