Foreign Digest: Hong Kong and Germany

Hong Kong

            The government of the Chinese special administrative territory of Hong Kong has suspended consideration of a proposed law backed by Communist China to allow for extradition to the mainland that would have been used as a tool against political dissidents, after mass protests against the measure.  China had promised autonomy and the preservation of representative government and freedom for the former British colony after its reversion from the United Kingdom in 1991, but Peking has steadily eroded the city-state’s self-rule.  Mass protests continue as demonstrators oppose the law and demand autonomy and liberty for Hong Kong.

Germany

           A far-right associate has been arrested in the murder of an elected local municipal administrator in the state of Hessen from the ruling German conservative Christian Democratic Union.  The pro-migrant official had been opposed by the xenophobic far-right and had received death threats.  There have been other acts of violence against local politicians by the far-right in Germany over the last few years.