Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published the 2021 list of press freedom predators, which identifies 37 heads of state or government who implement restrictions on news reporting. The list includes Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, a sign of deteriorating press freedom both in communist China and Hong Kong. China is ranked 177 in the 180 countries and regions in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index, barely better than Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea. Hong Kong is 80 in the ranking. RSF provides a profile for each predator describing his or her oppressive behavior. In the case of Xi Jinping, RSF accuses Xi’s China of being “the world’s biggest captor of press freedom defenders with more than 115 detained in 2021, often in conditions that pose a threat to their lives.” It notes that journalists whose reports do not fit the regime’s narrative are often held in …