China update: Hong Kong elections and Peng Shuai denial among our reporter’s picks for top headlines this week

Hong Kong holds first polls since electoral overhaul, and as we assess two years of Covid-19, Xian’s lockdown recalls measures in Wuhan back in early 2020

Tennis star Peng disowns her sexual assault claim, while live-streamers and teachers fall foul of the authorities over tax and their opinions respectively

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Peng Shuai appeared to disown her accusations against a former Chinese politician. Photo: AFP

Echo Xie

Published: 8:30am, 24 Dec 2021

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope you are all prepared for Christmas.

I’m Echo Xie, a reporter at the South China Morning Post focusing on climate, energy and environment. I’m also interested in Chinese politics and policy. You can find me on Twitter @EchoooXie.

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor met Chinese President Xi Jinping during her annual visit to the capital after pro-Beijing candidates swept her city’s elections on Monday.

In what was his first face-to-face meeting with a top official from outside mainland China since the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Xi said stability had been restored in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the National Security Law (NSL) there last year.

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Mass arrests of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, activists under national security law

It is approaching two years since the coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan. I was in the central Chinese city soon after that on a reporting assignment and recall the queues and chaos at the railway station as I escaped hours before a weeks-long lockdown began – only for a fortnight’s quarantine to prevent me joining the Spring Festival gathering with my family.