This timing is unsurprising; it’s clear there’s nobody at the wheel in the U.S. for a couple of weeks, lowering the odds of reprisal during this window of opportunity. What would shift this? Does the E.U. have sufficient clout?
These mass arrests are just China getting ready to annex Hong Kong as soon as "the wheel" is in the hand of the guy they already know will no nothing.
Germany / Merkel (because she is the one who determines German foreign policy de facto) will not do anything that is against German business interests. As of 2021, Germany is neither left, nor right, neither liberal, nor conservative - on the international scene, it is a purely business-oriented nation.
https://www.politico.eu/article/germanys-drive-for-eu-china-...