Hong Kong police arrest 53 pro-democracy advocates, U.S. lawyer, under new national security law

Harold Maass

Hong Kong police early Wednesday arrested at least 53 pro-democracy advocates over their roles in last year's unofficial vote to choose opposition candidates in city elections. Authorities said the vote was part of a plan to "overthrow" the government in the semi-autonomous, China-ruled former British colony. The arrests amounted to the biggest roundup of democracy advocates yet under a new national security law Beijing imposed to discourage dissent. Among the former lawmakers and activists arrested was an American citizen, lawyer John Clancey, detained during a raid on a law firm, Reuters reports.

Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee said the operation targeted people "suspected to be involved in the crime of overthrowing or interfering seriously to destroy the Hong Kong government’s legal execution of duties." Victoria Hui, a Notre Dame political science professor who studies Hong Kong, called the raids a "total sweep" of opposition leaders that suggest Beijing will treat running for office as subversion.

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    Republicans on Wednesday are reeling over the loss of one, probably two Senate seats in Georgia on Tuesday. If Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff flip both Senate seats, as now expected, the Democrats will take control of the Senate on Jan. 20. And "Republicans, who enabled President Trump with their silence and compliance, are privately furious with him for blowing their Senate majority," Mike Allen reports at Axios. "It's a fitting and predictable end to Trump's reign.""In four years, Trump has lost his presidency, and the House and the Senate for the GOP," Marc Caputo notes at Politico. And "while Trump has a phoenix-like ability to rise from the ashes of his norm-shattering outrages, others just become ash." The "blame game is already burning within the GOP," he adds, but aside from Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling — who blamed Trump on CNN — most Republicans "are criticizing Trump anonymously.""Trump is the cause of this, lock, stock, and barrel," one Republican strategist told Politico. "But when you're relying on someone to win you a Senate race that also lost statewide eight weeks prior, you're not in a position of strength." A senior Senate GOP aide, when asked why Republicans lost on Tuesday, said, "Donald J. Trump." Some Trump allies pushed back, blaming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for refusing to hold a vote on $2,000 stimulus checks. The Republican candidates, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, also took friendly fire.But many "top Republicans blame Trump for sabotaging what should have been two easy wins — turning off suburban voters with his chaos and craziness, and sowing distrust of the Peach State election machinery with base voters," Axios' Allen writes. Still, "as a curtain call for Trumpism, approximately a dozen senators and 100+ House Republicans today will publicly support an idea that many of them think is idiotic and doomed to fail, as they protest congressional certification of President-elect Biden's victory."More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call Are we witnessing the fall of the United States? What will, and might, happen if Democrats sweep Georgia races for a 50-50 Senate

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  • After getting vaccinated, New Orleans woman delivers a blunt message to non-believers

    Maureen Weil received the coronavirus vaccine Monday in New Orleans, and the 79-year-old hopes all of her fellow Americans follow in her footsteps.In an interview with NBC News, Weil said she felt "excited" and "blessed" to be among the first people to get the vaccine. "I have a chance to see a few more days on this Earth because I'm protected," Weil said. "I believe in science."When asked what she would tell people who question the vaccine and don't want to receive it, Weil responded, "I call them stupid because -- that or either a buffoon. Because that's the only thing I could think of that could justify their stupidity."She said a lot of people don't believe in the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 350,000 Americans, because "they listen to the man that's in Washington, D.C., that's on his way out the door talking about how it's all a hoax and all that bullcorn. And he shouldn't be doing that because that's peoples' lives. Look at the parents who've died and left young children. I mean, it's sad."Getting the vaccine "didn't hurt," Weil said, and now she has "peace of mind" and "knows one thing for sure. I'm gonna save somebody else's life by protecting myself. I won't get the corona so I can't spread it to anybody else. So that gives me a little satisfaction that I'm doing it not just for myself but for others." Americans "have to believe in science," Weil said. "There's no other way. When we didn't have a vaccine we were really up the creek, weren't we? And we had a hole in the boat. But we got a vaccine, so we got safety." > "I know one thing for sure. I'm gonna save somebody else's life by protecting myself.> > ... > Because then I won't get the corona so I can't spread it to anybody else." > -Maureen Weil, coronavirus vaccine recipient pic.twitter.com/TSecX57iAu> > -- Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 5, 2021More stories from theweek.com Are we witnessing the fall of the United States? What will, and might, happen if Democrats sweep Georgia races for a 50-50 Senate McConnell stares down the barrel of Trump's gun