China’s Crackdown on Hong Kong Democracy Intensified, U.S. Says

  • Hong Kong government blasts allegations as ‘ridiculous’
  • City’s position as global financial hub will suffer: Blinken
Copies of the final edition of the Apple Daily newspaper, arranged in Hong Kong, on June 24, 2021.Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg
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The U.S. blasted China for intensifying a crackdown on democracy advocates over the past year, criticism that Hong Kong called “unfounded” and “ridiculous.”

Authorities in Hong Kong blocked the pro-democracy opposition from playing a meaningful role in the city’s governance and criminalized peaceful political expression, the U.S. State Department said in a report released on Thursday.