'Joe Biden Will Stand With The People Of Hong Kong'

Western politicians and exiled Hong Kong activists on Wednesday denounced a wave of arrests under the national security law in the SAR, with US President-elect Joe Biden's pick for secretary of state describing the crackdown as an "assault".

"The sweeping arrests of pro-democracy demonstrators are an assault on those bravely advocating for universal rights. The Biden-Harris administration will stand with the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy," Antony Blinken said on social media.

US senator Ben Sasse, who's a member of the Senate's select committee on intelligence said President Xi Jinping saw a divided and distracted America and wasn't "wasting the moment".

"These despicable raids expose the Chinese Communist Party for the cowardly dictators they are," he said

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the country's consulate-general in Hong Kong was following developments closely.

"Australia has consistently expressed concern that the national security law is eroding Hong Kong's autonomy, democratic principles and rule of law," she said.

Activist Sunny Cheung, who fled Hong Kong last year after being charged over an unauthorised June 4 vigil, said Beijing is hoping to stifle all traces of democracy in the SAR, leaving only "dissidents who are loyal to the CCP."

Meanwhile, former lawmaker Nathan Law, who is apparently wanted by the authorities for an unspecified national security offence, said the "suppression of political freedom and freedom of speech" in Hong Kong has "risen to another level".

"Hong Kong people must remember this hatred. Anyone who is still defending the national security law and making peace is the enemy of Hong Kong people," he said.

Law recently announced that he is seeking asylum in the UK, from where he is continuing his activism.

A senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, Maya Wang, said Wednesday's arrests removed the "remaining veneer of democracy" in Hong Kong.

"Beijing once again has failed to learn from its mistakes in Hong Kong: that repression generates resistance, and that millions of Hong Kong people will persist in their struggle for their right to vote and run for office in a democratically elected government," she said. (Additional reporting by Reuters)