At 5 Sharp Street West, in the heart of Hong Kong, stands a handsome new eight-story building, with its grilled entrance locked round the clock. Not even the postman with registered mail gets past the portal guards unquestioned. The 40 inmates who work, eat, sleep, exercise and even procreate inside cannot leave without passing the muster of the sentinels. The roof bristles with six radio antennas, attentively tuned to Peking. This is the Hong Kong bureau of Hsinhua, or New China News Agencythe key link in the communications chain that is the West's only steady source of news from Communist China.
On...