November 2019 marked the peak of Hong Kong protests for autonomy against the oppressive regime of the Chinese Communist Party, where the police’s arrest of nearly 1100 young activists from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus was a major event that shook the world. 

Despite gaining significant international attention, the outbreak of COVID-19 forced the protests, and all associated information to fizzle out because of the news overload that started from December 2019 regarding what would become a pandemic. 

Let us break down the entire conflict. 

Background about Hong Kong 

Hong Kong is a former British colony turned semi-autonomous territory/special administrative region falling under the rule of the People’s Republic of China since 1997. The republic of China has ruled the city under the “one country, two systems” promised principle, where it enjoys governance under its own laws and citizens have significant civil liberties, such as freedoms of press, expression, assembly, religion and protections under international law. According to the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, Hong Kong is granted a greater degree of autonomy, which includes executive, legislative and independent judicial powers until 2047. Despite the freedoms granted, Hong Kong is not a full democracy by international standards. 

However, despite a theoretical separation of power, Beijing has a significant influence on the region and its function through loyalists who have significant dominance in the political arena. China also has the authority over the interpretation of Hong Kong’s constitution, and approval of a change of political processes in the region; the Hong Kong government and National People’s Congress (China’s highest legislative body) must approve the changes. Even though Hong Kong has the power to develop relations with other states in areas such as trade, communications, culture and tourism, China has control over the region’s defense and diplomacy. 

What were the protests about? 

The protests started against the introduction of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Bill of 2019 by the Hong Kong government which focused largely on developing a system of mutual assistance in the transfer of fugitives between Hong Kong and any place outside, this includes countries that Hong Kong did not have an extradition treaty with, including mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau. The government of Hong Kong argued that this bill was to prevent criminals escaping laws in other countries to seek indefinite refuge in Hong Kong due to the absence of an extradition treaty, however, people raised concerns that proposed changes to existing extradition laws may force Hong Kong to be legally obligated to turn in any persons who are wanted for crimes to face trials. This includes activists wanted in China, and further questions regarding judicial independence of Hong Kong were raised, where raised concerns of distrust of the legislative process because the pro-government (and pro-China) lawmakers were in a majority in the council, which could mean that the bill had the potential to be passed despite opposition from the public.

Why was this bill suddenly introduced? 

The initiative for this bill came after a man from Hong Kong murdered his 20-year-old girlfriend while they were on a vacation in Taiwan in February 2019, after which the man fled and returned to Hong Kong. Taiwan officials requested Hong Kong to hand the man over to the country to proceed with the prosecution of the crime committed on their land, however, since Hong Kong did not have an extradition treaty with Taiwan, it could not comply with the extradition request. 

It is important to note that the government of Taiwan clearly said that it would not pursue its extradition request under the proposed bill and instead asked for this case to be handled separately. Further, Michael Tien, a legislative councilor, requested the government to shelve the bill and instead introduced an alternative solution to handle this case by suggesting that the Hong Kong courts can exercise extra-territorial jurisdiction over the crimes committed considering that the man is a citizen of Hong Kong, thus, also setting a precedent for future cases. 

Where did it go wrong?

Despite people from many sectors, ranging from businessmen, lawyers, doctors, to students, asserting opposition to the law, the government, especially Chief Executive Carrie Lam, was adamant to go ahead with the bill, making people take to the streets to protest the proposed extradition bill in March 2019. After months of protests, including intensive arguments between lawmakers within the legislative council, the government introduced concessions to the bill on May 30. However, these were not sufficient to address the fears and concerns of the people of Hong Kong, which is why nearly 3000 lawyers participated in a silent march on June 6 calling for the bill to be shelved, and by June 9 nearly half a million people joined the march. Following this, on June 12, the protests continued around the legislature building, allegedly becoming violent when many protesters threw rocks and metal barricades at police and preventing lawmakers from discussing the bill; officers took to the use of rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds, a practice that would continue prominently in this movement. Seeing security concerns, government offices shut, and by June 15 the bill was delayed indefinitely, alongside an indefinite suspension of the legislative process.  

But the story doesn’t end there. 

On July 1, the anniversary date of Hong Kong’s handover from the British to Chinese rule, protesters stormed into the legislature, causing substantial damage to the building, destroying portraits of leaders who previously held office, and defacing the city’s emblem. Following this, several steps were taken by China to cause strain on Hong Kong, such as China’s aviation regulator demanding the suspension of a pilot of Hong Kong’s carrier airline, Cathay Pacific, for participating in the protests, and Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, postponing nearly $15 billion Hong Kong listings, as well as holding a drill for the militarized police with armored vehicles in the Shenzhen city, a Chinese city sharing borders with Hong Kong. As the protests continued to escalate, on Aug. 25, the Hong Kong police used water cannons for the first time; it is often mixed with pepper spray to cause a burning sensation (which often leads to long-term medical issues) and dyed with color to mark clothing of those who joined the protests. Ultimately, on Sept. 4, the government announced the formal withdrawal of the bill, however, this was seen as a disingenuous effort for the atrocities committed over the months, protesters demanded a greater degree of democracy in the city, an investigation into the cases of alleged police brutality against protesters as well as the release of those detained. Seeing the escalation of the protests, on Oct. 4, the government leader announced the imposition of a face mask ban that further sparks violent protests, and by Oct. 23, the bill is finally withdrawn. As protests continued, more aggressive techniques were employed by the Hong Kong police, on Nov. 4, as the police were dispersing protesters, a 22- year-old University student fell to the second floor of a parking lot, while on Nov. 11, the police started to fire live rounds at the protesters, wounding one. The peak of the movement came between Nov. 17 and 29, when the police surrounded the campus and arrested nearly 1100 young activists. 

What has happened since? 

While there was a march on New Year’s Day 2020, it quickly descended into chaos, and police employed brutal methods, such as tear gas and water cannon, to disperse the crowd. Eventually, the coronavirus outbreak forced people and the government to shift from these political concerns and instead attend to the health crisis, thereby slowing the movement. In April 2020, about 15 pro-democracy activists were arrested, and China’s representative office in Hong Kong hinted at the possibility of intrusion in the region considering that it is not bound by any law preventing it from any such measures, invoking a sense of concern amongst people of Hong Kong. 

Proving said concerns true, on May 21, China stepped in to announce the imposition of the National Security Law on Hong Kong, citing that the region requires a legal framework to avoid violent unrest and anti-governmental activities. 

Hong Kong under National Security Law 

As it was announced on May 21 that the National People’s Congress had begun drafting a new law to be added in Hong Kong’s constitution to avoid violent unrest, secession, terrorism, foreign interference in the region, as China had claimed. On May 24, civilians organized protests against China’s plans to implement the security law, and the subsequent erosion of Hong Kong’s powers, opening a window for China to completely take over the region. By May 27, nearly 396 people were arrested during the protests, many of the detainees were arrested even before the protest for the day had begun. On June 30, the national security law was passed unanimously, without any information of the content of the law relayed to the public or even the local officials. 

The new National Security Law criminalized all acts of secession, terrorism, expression of anti-government sentiments against the central government, and collusion with foreign forces. 

This new law forced Demosisto, a pro-democracy political organization, and several other pro-independence groups in the city to cease operations fearing that the new law put a target on them considering that they have long been involved in international lobbying for support for this cause. 

On July 1, thousands of protesters marched against the law, and nearly 10 people were arrested for breaching the law under the pretext that anyone who possessed flags, stickers or any protest art was undermining the authority of the central government. By July 4, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department confirmed that libraries in Hong Kong had started to review their collections for content that may be deemed as violating the national security law, thereby violating the freedom of the press guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong by the constitution. It was also reported by the South China Morning Post that individuals arrested for breaching the new security law had their DNA samples taken by the police. On July 5, it was confirmed by the Department of Justice that Chinese would now be the official language of the new law, despite concerns from legal experts over issues like English-speaking judges of the region may not be able to uphold justice without an official version of the law, or that the court cannot assume a citizen’s knowledge of the Chinese language or the Chinese version of the law. On July 13, about 600,000 people voted in the democratic camp’s unofficial primaries in advance of the Legislative Council elections to be held in September, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued a warning that people voting for opposition lawmakers may be categorized as subverting the state/central government’s power thus violating the security law. On Aug. 17, the Education Bureau removed topics such as civil disobedience, separation of powers, civil liberties, etc. from high school textbooks. On Sept. 6, hundreds of protesters were met with police brutality after they took to the streets to protest against the Security Law and the Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone legislative elections for a year, at least 289 people were arrested by the police. On Nov. 14, Hong Kong schools received instructions from the government regarding national education and awareness, suggestions included raising the national flag and playing the Chinese national anthem. On Nov. 25, pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was placed in solitary confinement in a prison’s hospital after an x-ray scan revealed the existence of foreign objects in his stomach.

Latest update 

On Jan. 6, 53 pro-democracy activists were arrested on the suspicions of “subversion” under the national security law for organizing or participating in unofficial primaries last July to elect democratic candidates for the Legislative Council elections; they released 50 out of the 53 the very next day.

As of Feb. 28, 47 pro-democracy activists were detained on allegations of subversion. It was the largest mass charge since the Security Law came into existence.