House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slammed the arrest of a Catholic cardinal in Hong Kong, calling it “one of the clearest signs yet of Beijing’s worsening crackdown” in an op-ed published Friday in The Washington Post. Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other people were arrested earlier this week by national security police in Hong Kong but were later released on bail amid continuing arrest operations, the Post reported. They were accused of foreign collusion and detained under Hong Kong’s national security law. “Zen’s arrest is one of the clearest signs yet of Beijing’s worsening crackdown as Hong Kong fights for its freedoms — and of Beijing’s growing desperation and fear that it is losing this fight. Imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020, the national security law gives more control to China over punishing activists and demonstrators and offers less judicial authority to Hong Kong on cases.

Source: Washington Post May 14, 2022 10:28 UTC