Last week’s conviction of dissidents came in the biggest case since introduction of a new national security law

The verdict wasn’t surprising but outside room no 2 of the West Kowloon courthouse, people still wept. The panel of Hong Kong national security judges had set down two days for the hearing but dispensed with the core business in about 15 minutes. In the city’s largest ever national security trial – involving the prosecution of pro-democracy campaigners and activists from a group known as the “Hong Kong 47” – almost all the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to commit subversion.

Their crime was trying to win an election, holding unofficial primaries in 2020 attended by an estimated 600,000 residents.

Chief executive to leave office at end of June after five years marked by upheavals of anti-government protests

Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, who has governed the Chinese region since 2017, has announced she will not seek a second five-year term of office.

Lam’s tenure as the chief executive of one of Asia’s most significant financial hubs has been marked by the upheavals of anti-government protests and, more recently, Covid-19. Critics have accused her of helping Beijing to curtail Hong Kong’s freedoms.

Mass arrests raise question of what, if anything, dissenting politicians are actually allowed to do

Wednesday’s sweeping arrests of more than 50 pro-democracy activists, pollsters, politicians and fundraisers in Hong Kong seemed to all but criminalise opposition politics in the city.

Those arrested face charges of subversion for their role in unofficial primary elections held last summer that aimed to maximise the pro-democracy bloc’s performance in elections to the city’s legislative council.

Leader says ‘one country, two systems’ deal could continue if city shows loyalty to China

Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said the “one country, two systems” framework under which the city is meant to enjoy autonomy from China could be extended beyond 2047 if loyalty to Beijing is upheld.

In her first appearance at the Legislative Council since October, Lam answered a question from a lawmaker about what might happen in 2047, the year the semi-autonomous territory is meant to return to Chinese rule.