A legal quagmire for Hong Kong's leadership

TWENTY-SOME years ago, the main topic of conversation for people in Hong Kong was what lay in the future, when the British colony was handed back to China after 156 years. Two decades later, the conversation hasn't changed much, with people asking each other what they thought the future held for this Chinese special administrative region, which is supposed to enjoy "a high degree of autonomy".

Hong Kong has changed in ways few had expected. Last year, for the first time ever, a foreign journalist was effectively expelled when the government refused to renew his work visa. A political party was banned for advocating independence. These are things one expects to happen in China, but not in Hong Kong.

The government of Chief Executive Carrie Lam is doing what Beijing wants it to do.