Darkness at Noon

It seems odd that the CCP is cracking down on Hong Kong now. Its international prestige is already awful because of the coronavirus. It would seem more like a time to look friendly. Yet it has been picking fights with everyone.

It seems to me this is not a sign of strength, but of weakness. These look like desperate moves. What is the Chinese government afraid of?

A free Hong Kong could be the incubator of a general revolution.

The Chinese government presumably sees this as only too likely.

More generally, it may feel it must look tough abroad primarily to impress those at home into continuing submission.

Many noticed, and captured on their cell phones, a strange afternoon darkness as the current session of the Chinese National Party Congress opened in Beijing. This is one more sign, according to Chinese tradition, that a dynasty is about to fall.