Subverting Hong Kong's Autonomy

When Hong Kong reverted to chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997, the air was full of forecasts of impending doom for the former British colony's individual freedoms. There were predictions of army tanks in the streets, democratic politicians thrown into jail, and personal liberties curtailed. Nothing like that happened, of course. Apart from anything else, Beijing knew better than to arouse international concern or upset the carefully crafted agreements with London over autonomy and the Basic Law, Hong Kong's new mini-constitution.

Now, five years on, the yoke is coming down on the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the...