Amid ongoing protests in Hong Kong, police have arrested three pro-democracy lawmakers, two prominent activists, and the leader of the banned Hong Kong National Party, the most recent and highest-profile of the over 900 arrests so far since June. The arrests came ahead of a now cancelled march on Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s decision to impose limits on who could run for office in Hong Kong, a move that set off the 2014 Umbrella Movement, in which Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow–the two arrested activists–served as student leaders. The New York Times’ Austin Ramzy and Ezra Cheung report on the arrests, and on additional measures that the Hong Kong and Beijing government have enacted to “establish order”:

Three pro-democracy lawmakers, Cheng Chung-tai, Au Nok-hin and Jeremy Tam were arrested Friday, according to the police, a legislative assistant and Facebook posts from their offices.

Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, student leaders of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong five years ago that presaged the current protests, were arrested on Friday morning, their political organization said. They were later released on bail. Andy Chan, who led the now-banned Hong Kong National Party, was taken into custody Thursday night at the Hong Kong airport, he said on Facebook.

The arrests were the latest in a dramatic week of events in Hong Kong, where tensions were running high after three months of protests touched off by widespread anger over legislation, since suspended, that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial.

[…] In addition to the arrests, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said the government was considering whether there were other measures the city could take to establish order; China sent in fresh troops to the territory; and the authorities denied permission for what was widely expected to be a well-attended demonstration.

[…] More than 900 arrests have been carried out since early June, but the detentions on Thursday and Friday stood out. The arrest of prominent activists during sensitive periods is a common tactic by the authorities in mainland China, but such an approach is highly unusual in Hong Kong, which has its own legal system and far greater protections for civil rights. [Source]

[…] In addition to the arrests of Wong and Chow, outspoken pro-democracy politician Rick Hui was arrested on Friday. Hui was arrested Friday on suspicion of “obstructing the police officers in the performance of their duty.” The charge relates to Hui’s alleged participation in a rally in Sha Tin, in Hong Kong’s New Territories.

[…]Police charged Wong, 22, with “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly”, “organizing unauthorized assembly” and ” knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly.”

Chow, also 22 and a former Demosisto Legislative Council candidate, was charged with “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly” and “knowingly participating in unauthorized assembly.”

The pair could face five years in jail if convicted of the most serious charge of “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly.” [Source]

Elsewhere at The New York Times, Keith Bradsher analyzes news about the recent arrests and the lack of concessions offered to demonstrators as reflecting a “tactical escalation by China’s leaders to curb the recent street violence, but which could prolong the protests for many months”:

Officials in Beijing, along with the Hong Kong government that answers to them, have decided on a policy of stepped-up arrests of demonstrators, who would be publicly labeled the most radical of the activists, according to Hong Kong cabinet members and leaders of the local pro-Beijing establishment.

In interviews over the past two weeks, these local political figures stressed that China wants the Hong Kong police to carry out the arrests — not Chinese soldiers, whose intervention in the city’s affairs would be unprecedented.

[…] Beijing has also ruled out making concessions to the demonstrators, they said. With protest leaders also vowing not to back down, the officials acknowledged that the price of the strategy could be months of acrimony, possibly stretching into 2020.

[…] With China’s hard-line leader, Xi Jinping, dealing with a trade war with the United States, a strategy of attrition in Hong Kong could be seen as preferable to a rash approach that might risk spiraling into a major crisis.

But it is far from clear how much success the authorities will have with their strategy of arresting protesters, resisting concessions and delaying negotiations. The arrests have begun to draw criticism from around the world. […] [Source]