Highlights
50 pro-democracy politicians and campaigners were arrested in secretive early morning raids in Hong Kong.
The activists that were arrested by the authorities held primaries in July 2020 to run and win a majority of seats in the Hong Kong election.
The recent arrests have nearly doubled the number of people arrested under the NSL in Hong Kong.
New Delhi: For the major part of 2020, Hong Kong was gripped by widespread protests. Initially, the protests began against the proposed extradition law but gradually turned into a movement against China’s increasing interference in the affairs of the native populace. The protesters were successful in stopping the extradition treaty but the sheer scale of the protests and the disruption they caused was seemingly a wake-up call for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Chinese government then moved to introduce the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong. As per the law, any “subversion, terrorism and separatism” would be severely punished. The CCP purposefully left the wordings of the law vague and gave authorities sweeping powers to stamp out any form of dissent in the city. It is under this harsh NSL that over 50 pro-democracy politicians and campaigners were arrested in secretive early morning raids. China has unilaterally carried out a political purge in Hong Kong and its actions are already being condemned as a “despicable” assault on freedom.