China is threatening the rule of law in Hong Kong

“YOU can lock up our bodies, but not our minds!” So says a message posted on the Twitter account of Joshua Wong, a pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong (pictured), shortly after he and two associates were sent to jail on August 17th for their roles in the “Umbrella Movement” protests that swept through the territory in 2014. The jail sentences, ranging from six to eight months, outraged their supporters. Tens of thousands took to the streets in protest (see ). Many people in Hong Kong regard the three mild-mannered, bespectacled men as political prisoners. The silence of the West, particularly that of Britain, the former colonial power, is depressing.The people of Hong Kong are right to be alarmed. The territory is not a democracy. But it is more open than mainland China, and its reputation rests partly on having a judiciary that is rigorous and impartial. That is why so many foreigners choose to live and invest there. Any erosion of the rule of law threatens Hong Kong’s prosperity, as well as the reputation of China, which promised to respect its liberties when it took back the territory from Britain in 1997.