UAPA

On Wednesday, 29 December, Hong Kong Police raided the office premises of the pro-democracy news website and arrested some of its current and former employees on suspicion of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications”. Stand News had been in operation since 2014 and had been severely critical of the Chinese Communist Party and its policies, especially the National Security Law which was enacted in 2020.

The police said they did not comply with the implementation rules for Article 43 of the national security law in Hong Kong to provide information. The police operations are still ongoing and more people could be arrested. Local media reported that the people under arrest were from an anti-China group named the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

Political issues and the gradual erosion of personal freedoms and human rights are as much the primary reasons for the exodus as lack of living space and reducing trust in the local government. At least a fifth of the island's population is thinking of or currently in the process of emigrating. What are the factors pushing them towards leaving Hong Kong? The top four factors are listed by the survey.

A letter sent by an industry group that includes the Internet firms said companies are concerned that the planned rules to address doxing could put their staff at risk of criminal investigations or prosecutions related to what the firms' users post online. Doxing refers to the practice of putting people's personal information online so they can be harassed by others, the report said.

Speaking from the balcony of the Tiananmen Gate, Xi underlined the achievements of the Chinese Communist Party and talked about the role of the CCP in establishing China as a global power. Talking about Hong Kong, Xi said that Beijing helped restore order after large anti-government protests had erupted in the autonomous city in 2019.

The 73-year-old Jimmy Lai, who is already in jail for other alleged offences, is accused of inciting others to participate in the unauthorised assembly in Victoria Park last year, Xinhua news agency reported. The 20 defendants appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on Friday. While two of the defendants prepared to confess, eight others pleaded not guilty and the rest 10, including Lai, were yet to decide.

Richard Tsoi, secretary of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HKA) told dpa news agency that Chow was arrested at 8 a.m. at Central Police Station. The police announced a ban on Tiananmen commemorations last week, which they said was because of the pandemic. They said that anyone breaking the ban could face five years in prison, and one additional year for publicizing an event.