Dennis Kwok was with his two children, hiking through the lush jungles of Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak in April, when he realized how far China was willing to go to quell dissent in the former British colony.

Kwok’s phone lit up with texts and calls asking about an alarming and unprecedented statement from China’s top agency overseeing Hong Kong. It said Kwok — an opposition lawmaker who was participating in a filibuster effort in the city’s elected legislature — may have committed misconduct and violated his oath of office, offenses that could cost him his seat.

"It ruined the day with my kids,” Kwok, 42, said. But the London-trained lawyer also realized that "something fundamental had changed” in the months while Hong Kong protesters had withdrawn from the streets to escape the coronavirus.