HONG KONG – An American lawyer who became the first foreigner arrested under Hong Kong's national security law said Friday that the courts now have a choice between the new law and the city's legally enshrined freedoms, as China cracks down on dissent in the Asian financial capital.John Clancey was one of 55 people arrested last week over their involvement in an unofficial primary election last year that authorities say was part of a plan to paralyze the government and subvert state power.
He was released on bail and has not been formally charged. His adopted home of Hong Kong, where he has lived since 1968, turned from a British colony to a semi-autonomous Chinese territory in 1997 that enjoyed Western-style civil rights.