Hong Kong

The 45-year-old man was arrested Saturday along with three other men and two women in connection to a string of robberies that occurred over the past two months.

In a six-minute, three-mile car chase, the suspect sped through four red lights and crashed into a bus, two private cars, two taxis and a police vehicle along the way.

"Over the past year, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has continued to dismantle Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, in violation of its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Hong Kong's Basic Law," Blinken wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

China's top legislative body proposed the changes this month and began debating them on Monday.

Clips, shared widely on social media, show China's top foreign affairs chief, Yang Jiechi, clash with Antony Blinken, his U.S. counterpart.

"Loyalty to the motherland is a basic political ethic of all public office holders and aspirants anywhere in the world," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. "Hong Kong is no exception."

China's continued crackdown on opposition voices comes just weeks after Beijing warned President Joe Biden's administration not to interfere in Hong Kong.

China is attempting to control the global conversation about its escalations in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uighurs.

A look at those to have been named as nominees for the coveted prize, before the winner is revealed later in the year.

"Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs and allow for no foreign interference," a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

President-elect Biden's pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had tweeted in support of Hong Kong, saying the new administration would stand up to Beijing.

China's foreign ministry further pushed the false equivalence on Thursday when its spokesperson accused the United States of double standards.

Authorities in Hong Kong said Wednesday that they had detained 53 pro-democracy activists and organizers involved in last year's unofficial primary elections.

Beijing professor Tian Feilong, a proponent of the Beijing's Hong Kong national security law, said the Chinese government should be preparing for a "non-peaceful reunification" of Taiwan.

The U.S. and China this week exchanged tit-for-tat sanctions over Hong Kong, where Beijing is continuing its crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

In his first appearance Wednesday since causing a fresh diplomatic row with Australia, government spokesperson Zhao Lijian urged the incoming Biden administration to restart talks with China.

China is revoking visa exemptions for U.S. diplomats visiting Hong Kong and Macau and imposing sanctions on Congress members.

China's foreign ministry did not say which high-level officials would be affected, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reportedly likely to be among them.

The State Department imposed the sanctions on 14 Chinese lawmakers over the clampdown on freedoms in Hong Kong.

Three pro-democracy leaders were imprisoned for between 7 and 13.5 months on Wednesday for their role in anti-government protests.

The Five Eyes intelligence sharing group has strongly criticized China for disqualifying the four lawmakers.

Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp found an ally in President Donald Trump. The transition of power has left some concerned about continued American support against China.

Official figures showed a near 60 percent increase in immigration document submissions compared to the same period last year, a report said Wednesday.

Beijing is waiting to see what line Biden's administration will take on the U.S.-China confrontation and Hong Kong.

In effect, Beijing, for all intents and purposes, ended representative governance in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The four opposition MPs were expelled from Hong Kong's parliament after being accused of endangering national security.

Alvin Yeung, one of those expelled from the Legislative Council Wednesday, told Newsweek the move was "entirely unhealthy."

"Four years ago, Trump won in the 'Rust Belt states' of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania...But he lost all of them this year," the state-run Global Times outlet wrote Monday.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, who is due in Beijing on Tuesday, also praised China's national security law at a media address the day before.

19-year-old Tony Chung, who had previously been arrested for an alleged breach of the national security law, was reportedly detained from a coffee shop near the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau.