Xia Baolong, an ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping, was appointed Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council on February 13, replacing Zhang Xiaoming. Zhang Xiaoming has become the most senior Beijing-appointed official to lose his job in the wake of months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. Xia Baolong was Xi Jinping’s deputy when he was the Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province from 2003 to 2007. Xia Baolong was known for his hardline ideology in a 2014 campaign to tear down thousands of crosses and many underground churches in the province while he later took charge of Zhejiang as its party secretary – a post he held until 2017. He became a Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the CPPCC in 2018.

(Comment:  Xia Baolong's appointment signals that China is beginng to tighten its control over Hong Kong and further curb its civil society.)