How China extended its repression into an American city (opens in new tab)

As an American who lived in Hong Kong for a while pre+post handover, this news is particularly disturbing.

If the PRC wants to print out flyers and give away free flags and banners and distribute free food to local supporters, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with a foreign government using its diplomats and money to openly drum up supportive crowds per se.

However it's a different matter when we're talking about (A) promoting or sanctioning violence, (B) abusing diplomatic immunity, and (C) secretive astroturfing.

Hopefully that distinction is obvious, but I glumly predict that there are also a lot of people out there who will try to excuse the PRC by blurring the lines.

> Requests for public arrest records linked to the APEC summit were repeatedly deferred by the San Francisco Police Department, which cited a backlog. In response to questions from The Post, Evan Sernoffsky, a spokesman for the SFPD, added that the department was “fully deployed,” did an “excellent job” balancing public safety and the protesters’ constitutional rights, and coordinated with local, state and federal partners. Activists who protested Xi said in interviews that they feel disappointed by the lack of repercussions for the aggressors.

SFPD as always doing nothing against criminals but patting their own back.