Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
EXPLAINER: Hong Kong mass arrests chill democracy movement
Associated Press Wed., January 6, 2021, 12:37 a.m. PST
The Wednesday morning roundup, widely condemned by Western government officials and human rights groups, will likely further chill an already dwindling protest movement in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Police detained about 50 people, far more than in previous cases under the 6-month-old national security law. Those targeted appeared to include all candidates who had run in an unofficial opposition primary last year ahead of an expected election for Hong Kong’s legislature. City leader Carrie Lam later scrapped the election, citing the coronavirus pandemic. Activists called her move a thinly veiled attempt to thwart expected opposition gains.
HOW CAN A PRIMARY BE A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY?
Security Secretary John Lee said those arrested were suspected of trying to gain control of the legislature to paralyze government business. The subversion section of the national security law criminalizes “seriously interfering in, disrupting, or undermining the performance of duties and functions” of the Chinese or Hong Kong governments.
Lam said at the time of the primary that if its purpose was to resist every government initiative, it could amount to subverting state power. The central government labeled the primary illegal and a “serious provocation” to Hong Kong’s electoral system.
WHAT’S THE LIKELY IMPACT?
The arrests will remove more activists from the scene, reducing the possibility of renewed protests and eliminating many as future candidates for office. They warn a younger generation that formed the backbone of protests in 2014 and 2019 that even holding an unofficial primary can result in legal action that can seriously impact their futures.
Human Rights Watch said of the move that repression generates resistance, but the tightening restrictions on opposition activity and the lingering effects of the coronavirus on public life and the economy could delay or permanently discourage the emergence of a new generation willing to take on Beijing.
WHY NOW?
Beijing has been unrelenting in its efforts to prevent any repeat of the 2019 protests, which grew increasingly violent in response to the government's refusal to entertain the protesters' demands. They plunged Hong Kong into its biggest political crisis since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.
China is also determined to drive out what it sees as unwarranted foreign government interference in its domestic affairs. The nation's newfound military, economic and political clout is emboldening it to take on the West, and it can take advantage of distractions resulting from pandemic and political disruptions in the U.S. and Europe.
Translation
香港（美聯社）- 在香港，數十名支持民主的激進分子突然被捕，這是迄今為止最廣泛使用新國家安全法，這清楚地表明了北京決心遏制前英國殖民地政治反對派的決心。。
被西方政府官員和人權組織廣泛譴責的星期三上午的逮捕行動, 可能會進一步打擊在半自治的中國領土上已經在逐漸減少的抗議運動。
發生了什麼？
警方拘留了約50人，遠遠超過了以往歷時6個月的國家安全法所有案件總和。目標對像似乎包括所有在去年預期將選舉香港立法機關之前, 在非官方的反對派初選中競選的候選人。市領導林鄭月娥後來以冠狀病毒大流行為由取消了這選舉。激進分子稱她以病毒為由作出的掩飾薄紗, 以試圖挫敗預期中的反對派的收穫。
初選如何威脅國家安全？
保安局局長李家超說，被捕者涉嫌企圖控制立法機關，使政府業務癱瘓。國家安全法的顛覆部分, 將對中國或香港政府的 “嚴重干擾，破壞或破壞履行職責的行為” 定為犯罪。
林在舉行初選時表示，如果其目的是抵抗政府的每一項倡議，那可能就等於顛覆國家政權。中央政府將這舉初選標記為非法, 和對香港選舉制度的 “嚴重挑釁” 。
有什麼影響？
這次逮捕將把更多的維權人士趕出現場，減少抗議活動再次發生的可能性，並消除許多人成為未來的競選候選人。他們警告說，在2014年和2019年構成了抗議活動的骨幹年輕人，即使舉行非官方的初選, 也可能導致可能嚴重影響其未來的法律訴訟。
人權觀察社說，鎮壓會產生抵抗，但對反對派活動的嚴格限制, 以及冠狀病毒對公共生活和經濟的 持久影響, 可能會推遲或永久阻止出現新一代願意挑戰北京的人。
為什麼現在？
北京一直在不懈努力，以防止2019年抗議活動再次發生。當時由於政府拒絕接受抗議者的要求，這種抗議活動變得越來越暴力。他們使香港陷入了自1997年回歸中國以來最大的政治危機。
中國還決心排除外國政府對其內政的無理干預。該國新顯現的軍事，經濟和政治影響力使它有量膽面對挑戰西方，並且可以利用因大流行在美國和歐洲引起的政治動盪而所得到優勢。
So,
confrontation between China and the western countries is likely to continue for
some time to come due to matters happen in Hong Kong.
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