EDITORIAL: In praise of ‘the last wall’
Chinese social media users took great delight in the scenes of rioters breaking into the US Capitol building on Wednesday, which they were allowed to see. It is too bad that they are unlikely to have been able to read or hear about another incident earlier that day, Hong Kong Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma’s (馬道立) final appearance on the bench, when he delivered a second strong defense of the rule of law and judicial independence in the territory in as many days.
Ma’s words carried even more resonance as they came just hours after more than 1,000 police officers were deployed across Hong Kong to arrest 53 democracy advocates, former lawmakers and academics for contravening the National Security Law by organizing an unofficial primary in July last year to nominate opposition candidates for the Legislative Council elections in September, which were later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.