In 2003, a massive peaceful Hong Kong protest forced a controversial law to be shelved and the secretary for security to resign. Ultimately, even the then chief executive had to quit. Last year, mass protests, often violent, forced another controversial law to be shelved. This time though, no one resigned. If anything, those officials most responsible for the law and its subsequent handling have been even more entrenched within the government. Whether or not Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had ever wanted to quit, as she did according to some news reports, Beijing wouldn’t let her. How times have changed. Rather than joining a long roster of forgotten government ministers who came and went since the 1997 handover, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah and Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu have become even more prominent. This is despite both being consistently the least liked ministers within the government, in survey after survey. After Lam, both are arguably the most important local officials, tasked as they have been with explaining and justifying the impending national security law, along with the setting up of a “special branch” of mainland and local police to enforce it. Lee said this special unit would be ready to operate on the “very first day” the controversial legislation came into effect, which could be as early as later this month. Cheng, meanwhile, reassured the public that all independent prosecutorial decisions would be made by her department, rather than mainland authorities. Furthermore, mainland agents would have to follow all Hong Kong laws while working here. New police unit will be ready to enforce Hong Kong security law on ‘very first day’ If you support the new security law, you hardly need more persuasion. But if you oppose it, those are hardly reassuring words. Of course, they are not meant to reassure; rather they show that the Hong Kong government, along with its principal officials, is firmly within the United Front. So Washington is threatening to sanction local officials? Well, bring it on. Lam, Cheng, Lee & Co are trapped in the kitchen and will have to learn to stand the heat. They can’t quit, Beijing won’t allow it. Who would want their jobs anyway? Protesters threatening more strikes and violence? Well, it’s precisely those violent protests that have brought on the national security law. The more unrest and mayhem, the more empowered those hated officials will be in their jobs, and more justified in their hardline stance. Maybe it’s time to try more peaceful means.