I have said numerous times that Beijing has made huge mistakes when concerning HK between 1997 and 2019 because they did not interfere to safeguard mainland Chinese interests. The chickens have come home to roost starting with the small protests in 2014 and slowly but surely building up towards the mass unrest of 2019. They only implemented a national security law on 30 June 2020. Barely 5 months ago and only now we see some of the ringleaders (Agnes Chow, Joshua Wong, Jimmy Law) for several months behind bars. Only this year we see a willingness to reform the liberal lessons that those youngsters receive in HK schools.
Exactly, but to be fair, China kept it's promise of no change for 50 years. The only mistake China's made is assuming the west would play fair and not intervene. Alas, no they been cooking up this scheme for decades, if not generations.
Anyway, the national security law? Although two decades late in my opinion, it's effective. Because it is the same law that every other western countries have (so they can't criticise too much, although they have tried).
And now look at the results, all these Hanjians getting locked up, or jumping bale. Lol