- At least 53 people were arrested in
Hong Kong early Wednesday morning underChina 's draconiannational security law . - It is the biggest crackdown yet on the city's pro-democracy movement since the law came into force last June.
- Among those arrested is American lawyer John Clancey, who appears to be the first foreigner without dual citizenship to be arrested under the security law.
- Clancey is the treasurer of an organization that planned a primary election for pro-democracy candidates last July, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- All of the people arrested on Wednesday were connected to the primary election.
At least 53 people were arrested in early-morning raids in Hong Kong on Wednesday, in China's biggest crackdown yet on the city's pro-democracy movement since imposing a draconian national security law last June.
Among them is an American lawyer, John Clancey, who was arrested when police officers raided his law firm, which has represented several of the city's opposition leaders in the past, CNN and Reuters reported.
According to CNN and The Guardian, Clancey is the first foreigner without dual citizenship to be arrested under the city's new national security law, which was imposed by China to quell pro-democracy protests.
Clancey is the chairman of the Asian Human Rights Commission and treasurer of Power for Democracy, an organization that planned a primary election for opposition candidates in July, but which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The dozens of people arrested on Wednesday were directly involved in that primary, including all the candidates who ran, the organizers, and the pollsters, according to a list of the arrests seen by The Guardian.
According to CNN, the people arrested on Wednesday were charged with "subverting state power," a crime included in Hong Kong's new security law. A conviction of subversion carries the possibility of three years to life in prison.
Anthony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee to head the State Department, tweeted that the arrests were an "assault on those bravely advocating for universal rights."
"The Biden-Harris administration will stand with the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing's crackdown on democracy," Blinken tweeted.
The national security bill was formed as a response to unrest in Hong Kong that traces back to 2019, when mass protests were held over a proposed bill which would have allowed criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China.
Many in Hong Kong saw the bill as an attempt by China to gain more power on the city, which had been allowed to operate autonomously since the UK handed control back to China in 1997.
While the extradition bill was eventually scrapped, tensions between pro-democracy supporters on the island and China continued, which prompted the harsher, and vaguer, security bill.
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