The Wall Street Journal writes, "Political paralysis has gripped this city since pro-democracy protests fizzled out in December, sparking growing discontent and the specter of fresh confrontations with Beijing. Surveys show Hong Kong residents increasingly unhappy with their city's leadership and eager to leave. Many of those surveyed share a sense of pessimism over the city's future, with polls reflecting its decline in the global ranks as a desirable place to live...At the heart of the political dispute that is snarling government is the same issue that roiled the city during the Occupy Central movement. China agreed last summer to give Hong Kong residents the right to elect the city's chief executive in 2017 but said they could only pick candidates approved by a nominating committee stacked with pro-Beijing and pro-business members. The ruling set off the Occupy protests."
According to Reuters, "The Chinese government will 'refresh' its policy on granting entry permits to its citizens wishing to visit the separately administered territory of Hong Kong, a state-run paper said on Thursday, amid mounting anger at hordes of mainland shoppers...Hong Kong people fume that mainland tourists crowd them out of malls and buy up all available supplies of daily necessities such as diapers and milk powder. Police have used pepper spray to break up confrontations as locals have cursed mainlanders, shouting at them to go back to China...Tensions between Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese have escalated in recent months due to an influx of cross-border visitors and perceptions over Beijing's increasing grip on the city.
"Chinese courts heard almost nine times as many cases against polluters in 2014 than the year before, evidence of the government's campaign to clean up China's environment after years of lax enforcement...The climb in cases comes amid an overall push by Beijing to tighten and enforce regulations and use other measures to deal with pollution that has left the country with toxic air, foul water and contaminated soil. Provinces with high levels of pollution such as Hebei-home to the nation's dirtiest skies, as well as a chunk of the nation's steel industry-have closed various heavily polluting industries. A recently revised environmental law stiffens penalties for polluters and relaxes some restrictions on nongovernmental groups bringing suit against polluters. The law, which went into effect this year, also creates a system in which polluters are fined on an accumulating basis for the number of days they are in violation, instead of one-off fines," writes The Wall Street Journal.