Hong Kong takes pride in being one of Asia's freest cities, where basic rights and freedoms are respected, even though this may not be the case elsewhere in China.
Last month, for example, the acting tourism commissioner highlighted freedom of expression as one of the elements that provide a favourable setting for creative and technology industries; the secretary for security reiterated the government's respect for the public's right to express their views; and the chief secretary, while addressing the Pulitzer Prize Winners Workshop at Baptist University, pledged to 'protect the core value of freedom of expression'.
All these high-minded sentiments, however, had been put in doubt by the arrest of one demonstrator, 22-year-old Ip Ho-yee, who, while celebrating the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to mainland dissident Liu Xiaobo, splashed some champagne on a security guard outside the central government's liaison office.
Fortunately, the Department of Justice has decided not to press charges. But it is difficult to understand why she was arrested in the first place, unless it was an attempt to please officials who work in the liaison office.
Demonstrators are increasingly protesting outside the liaison office. Perhaps because Chinese officials are unaccustomed to public protests, the police seem to feel they have to be more protective. There seems to be a tendency to crack down on people who stage protests there.
Earlier this year, for example, the student activist Christina Chan Hau-man was arrested on a charge of assaulting a policewoman during a New Year's Day protest outside the liaison office. Chan was found not guilty at her trial, with the magistrate accepting the explanation that the policewoman was struck unintentionally as Chan was chanting slogans and gesturing with her arm.
But there seems to be a trend. The Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor has carried out a study which, it said, shows a rise in police prosecution of protesters under the Offences Against the Person Ordinance since 2007.