‘From now on we live in constant fear’: Why the Hong Kong mass arrests signal dark days ahead

The latest crackdown by authorities has shocked even those used to the opposition being targeted, reports William Yang

Pro-democratic party members shout slogans in response to the mass arrests (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) (AP)

Receiving news about the arrest of pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong isn’t something new to Avery Ng, the chairman of the League of Social Democrats. However, the news of the mass arrest of 53 pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong even came as an unpleasant surprise to him.  

“We were already shocked by the increased crackdown taking place in Hong Kong since the implementation of the National Security Law, but today’s mass arrest is by far the most comprehensive political oppression,” Ng tells The Independent.  

The activists, many of them current and former legislators or district councillors in the former British colony, were accused of committing “subversion of state power” by organising and participating in an unofficial ‘primary’ election for the opposition last year.