2021 came with various challenges but the end of democracy in Hong Kong stands out. This article by Zen Soo and Huizhong Wu published by The Sydney Morning Herald revisits how China succeeded in snuffing out democracy in Hong Kong. Here is an excerpt:

As the days of 2021 dwindled, so did any remaining traces of democracy in Hong Kong.

On Wednesday, a vocal pro-democracy media outlet – one of the last openly critical voices in the city – closed after a police raid. Earlier in December, the opposition was shut out from elections under a new law that puts all candidates to a loyalty test. And monuments commemorating the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were taken down.

Again and again throughout the year, the city’s authorities and the central government in Beijing stamped out nearly everything the pro-democracy movement had stood for. Activists fled abroad or were locked up under the draconian National Security Law imposed on the city 18 months ago. Unions and other independent organisations closed down.

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