Commentary Hong Kong authorities arrested 53 pro-democracy figures earlier this month, on the grounds that they responded to democracy activist Benny Tai Yiu-ting’s call to challenge the government. The Chinese regime felt emboldened to enforce the national security law in making the arrests, and to use this incident as a warning to those who dare to challenge its authority. Benny Tai, a former Hong Kong University law professor, is known for his role in initiating the Occupy Central with Love and Peace, a non-violent civil disobedience campaign that called on the Hong Kong government to implement full democracy in 2014, which turned into the massive pro-democracy protests. The goal of the campaign was to achieve universal suffrage in Hong Kong, according to an article that Tai wrote, titled “Civil Disobedience’s Deadliest Weapon,” published in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on Jan. 16, 2013. The article stated that Occupy Central is …