by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Xia Baolong, former deputy and adviser to Xi Xinping and a hardliner against underground churches in China, has just been appointed the new director of the Hong Kong and Macau affairs office.
Xia was associated with an anti-Christian crusade in 2014 that tore down thousands of crosses and shuttered many underground congregations in the Zheijang province, and is expected to take a hard tack against protests that have riven the former British colony.
"It signals that China will bring Hong Kong under closer scrutiny and tighten control over all aspects of the city," said Willy Lam, adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, calling the appointment "bad news for Hong Kong."
The pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong had a major success in November when opposition candidates won by a landslide in district council elections, taking the lion's share of 452 district council seats.
The communist party that rules mainland China is creating the "system of persecution for the future," according to Open Doors USA CEO David Curry.