William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."
City's demise a natural extension of what Xi has done on the mainland since 2012


Pro-democracy protesters take part in a rally at Edinburgh Place in November 2019: Xi can spin his Hong Kong putsch as retaliation against U.S. interference. © Getty Images
William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."