The Chinese authorities have kept up their retributive crackdown on pro-democracy activists, targeting especially young people who took part in protests. By Kinya Fujimoto, Sankei Shimbun in Japan Forward. Here is an excerpt:

On December 22, 2021, President Xi Jinping of China held a meeting with Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam. 

Xi appeared grimmer than usual as he received Lam’s regular report on the past year.

However, in news footage of the meeting, Xi was seen grinning for one short moment: a smile flashed at Lam as he praised her for “restoring [Hong Kong’s] social stability.”

The anti-government, anti-Beijing protests have subsided since the Hong Kong National Security Law came into effect on June 30, 2020. Out of more than 10,000 arrests, more than a quarter have been prosecuted. 

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