The Economist Latin America June 15, 2019

Politics Police in Hong Kong used rubber bullets, tear gas and water hoses on crowds demonstrating against a proposed law that would allow people to be extradited to the Chinese mainland. Three days earlier, perhaps 1m marchers thronged the streets, worried that the law would make anyone in Hong Kong, citizens and visiting businessfolk alike, vulnerable to prosecution in Chinese courts, which are under the thumb of the Communist Party. For the third time, a court in New Zealand prevented the government from extraditing a murder suspect to China. It asked the government to consider whether China could be relied upon to adhere to the human-rights treaties it has signed and whether a trial would be free from political interference. Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, survived a primary challenge from Lai Ching-te,…

Politics Police in Hong Kong used rubber bullets, tear gas and water hoses on crowds demonstrating against a proposed law that would allow people to be extradited to the Chinese mainland. Three days earlier, perhaps 1m marchers thronged the streets, worried that the law would make anyone in Hong Kong, citizens and visiting businessfolk alike, vulnerable to prosecution in Chinese courts, which are under the thumb of the Communist Party. For the third time, a court in New Zealand prevented the government from extraditing a murder suspect to China. It asked the government to consider whether China could be relied upon to adhere to the human-rights treaties it has signed and whether a trial would be free from political interference. Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, survived a primary challenge…

THREE THINGS stand out about the protesters who rocked Hong Kong this week. There were a great many of them. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in what may have been the biggest demonstration since Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997. Most of them were young—too young to be nostalgic about British rule. Their unhappiness at Beijing’s heavy hand was entirely their own. And they showed remarkable courage. Since the “Umbrella Movement” of 2014, the Communist Party has been making clear that it will tolerate no more insubordination—and yet three days later demonstrators braved rubber bullets, tear gas and legal retribution to make their point. All these things are evidence that, as many Hong Kongers see it, nothing less than the future of their city is…

THREE THINGS stand out about the protesters who rocked Hong Kong this week. There were a great many of them. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in what may have been the biggest demonstration since Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997. Most of them were young—too young to be nostalgic about British rule. Their unhappiness at Beijing’s heavy hand was entirely their own. And they showed remarkable courage. Since the “Umbrella Movement” of 2014, the Communist Party has been making clear that it will tolerate no more insubordination—and yet three days later demonstrators braved rubber bullets, tear gas and legal retribution to make their point. All these things are evidence that, as many Hong Kongers see it, nothing less than the future of their city is…

ONE OF THE biggest jobs in Europe is up for grabs: head of the European Central Bank (ECB). It sets interest rates across much of the continent, supervises banks and underwrites the euro, used by 19 countries with 341m citizens. The ECB’s outgoing boss, Mario Draghi, who steps down in October after eight years in charge, has done a sterling job in difficult circumstances. His tenure illustrates what is at stake. After a sovereign-debt crisis in 2010-12 threatened to sink the euro, it was Mr Draghi who ended the financial panic by pledging that the ECB would do “whatever it takes” to stop the euro zone from breaking up. Although he saved the euro, Mr Draghi leaves behind problems. The economy is faltering; a recession at some point in the…

ONE OF THE biggest jobs in Europe is up for grabs: head of the European Central Bank (ECB). It sets interest rates across much of the continent, supervises banks and underwrites the euro, used by 19 countries with 341m citizens. The ECB’s outgoing boss, Mario Draghi, who steps down in October after eight years in charge, has done a sterling job in difficult circumstances. His tenure illustrates what is at stake. After a sovereign-debt crisis in 2010-12 threatened to sink the euro, it was Mr Draghi who ended the financial panic by pledging that the ECB would do “whatever it takes” to stop the euro zone from breaking up. Although he saved the euro, Mr Draghi leaves behind problems. The economy is faltering; a recession at some point in the next…