HONG KONG—Electronics shops in Hong Kong have seen a sharp increase in demand for cheap burner phones as the Chinese-ruled city’s government eases coronavirus restrictions but pushes the use of a contact-tracing app which has raised privacy concerns.
The former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, saw widespread protests against Beijing’s encroachment on city affairs in 2019. About a year later, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law; many prominent pro-democracy activists have since been arrested on charges of violating the law—punishable by up to life imprisonment.
