Beijing's replacement of its chief representative in Hong Kong with a relatively senior mainland official with no local experience could offer an opportunity to improve the central government's policy toward the city after seven months of massive protests. All signs, however, point in the opposite direction.
Troubling signals out of October's high-level Chinese Communist Party meeting, the Fourth Plenum of the 19th Party Congress, indicate that Beijing wants to increase control over Hong Kong by cultivating a "correct" view of the country among local officials and youth to strengthen national security.
