Dozens of Hong Kong opposition figures arrested under national security law

Lee said those organizing the “so-called primary election” were seeking to “paralyze the Hong Kong government” by winning a majority in the legislature as well as “mobilizing vast-scale riots in the streets” to cause “such mutual destruction that if successful (this plan) would result in serious damage to society as a whole.”

“That is why police action today is necessary,” Lee added.

In a press conference later Wednesday, a police spokesman said that 53 people had been arrested under the national security law, in an operation that involved around 1,000 officers across the city.

Among those detained are many prominent former lawmakers, activists and district councilors. An American lawyer, John Clancey, who had assisted in the primary polls, was also arrested, his colleague Jonathan Man told CNN.

A US citizen, Clancey could potentially be the first foreign citizen who does not also hold a Hong Kong passport to be arrested under the national security law. Some of those previously arrested may hold dual-citizenship, which is permitted in certain circumstances in Hong Kong depending on whether someone was a foreign citizen prior to the city’s handover to Chinese rule in 1997.

The US Consulate in Hong Kong would not comment on the arrests. Clancey’s detention could pose a major diplomatic issue for Washington, amid an already tense relationship with China.

On Twitter, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said that “the sweeping arrests of pro-democracy demonstrators are 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 added.

Mass arrests

Wednesday’s arrests mark the most dramatic and sweeping escalation under the national security law since it’s introduction last year.

The law criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers, with life imprisonment as the most serious penalty for all offenses. The law also established a dedicated branch of the police and national security courts to hear some cases.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and others had previously promised the law would be limited in effect, and only target a small number of fringe activists.

“During 2020, you were part of the ’35+’ primary elections, designed to elect 35 or more members of the Legislative Council with the goal of vetoing all government budget policies and motions in order to force the Chief Executive to resign,” the arresting officer says in the video. “(Such acts would) seriously interfere with and obstruct the lawful responsibilities of the government.”

Such a scheme had been proposed by prominent pro democracy activist Benny Tai as a potential tactic to restart the long-stalled political reform process in Hong Kong, in the unlikely situation that pro-democracy candidates won a majority in the semi-democratic legislature, where around half of seats are assigned to so-called “functional constituencies,” chosen by business and other groupings that tend to favor Beijing.

Voting against the budget and forcing the chief executive to resign would have been legal prior to the national security law, similar to a “vote of no confidence” that prompts a general election in many democracies. The city’s constitution also contains provisions to deal with such an event, enabling the chief executive to call new legislative elections, and to pass a preliminary budget to enable the government to continue to function.