T EARS ROLLED down Chan Po-ying’s face at the disbandment of the League of Social Democrats ( LSD ), the last functioning pro-democracy party in Hong Kong, on June 29th. Ms Chan, the party’s leader, spoke of the impossibility of operating amid “the omnipresence of red lines and the draconian suppression of dissent”.

Hong Kong pro-democracy political party League of Social Democrats announced on Sunday it had disbanded due to immense political pressure, the latest casualty in a years-long crackdown that has already quieted much of the city’s once-vocal opposition.

Citizens of Hong Kong used to rally for democracy every July 1. The National Security Law has kept the streets quiet for the last five years, but the movement's fading slogans still echo in people's minds.