National Post: 'Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus Catholic bishop of Hong Kong (2002-2009), was arrested along with four others, including Canadian/Hong Konger pop music star Denise Ho. Also arrested were Prof. Hui Po Keung and opposition politicians Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho. As of late Wednesday night in Hong Kong, Cardinal Zen was released on bail.
'The five were arrested for alleged “collusion with foreign forces.” They were trustees of the now-disbanded 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which raised money for legal and medical expenses for pro-democracy protesters in 2019. They were protesting China’s tightening noose around Hong Kong, especially the despotic new “national security” law, which eviscerates historic civil liberties in the former British territory.
'That law, which went into effect in June 2020, makes any and all sorts of political dissent a criminal offence. Most ominously, it permits those charged under the law to be transferred for prosecution — and inevitable incarceration — to the mainland.
'The law has been used against the most prominent Hong Kong democracy advocates. Jimmy Lai, owner of the now-suppressed pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is languishing in jail, having been convicted of leading “unauthorized protests,” principally the annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre....'