A history under China’s rule after the 1997 handover

A 2014 decision by the central Chinese govt to preselect candidates for Hong Kong’s prime position dashed hopes that the city would attain the promised purpose of real universal suffrage. 

The go coincided with a civic disobedience movement coordinated by a few professional-democracy advocates, which include law professor Benny Tai. The Occupy Central with Like and Peace motion aimed to paralyze the city’s most important economical district to power the governing administration to permit entirely absolutely free elections. 

Law enforcement efforts to obvious the roadways with tear gas prompted early protesters to shield them selves with umbrellas, offering the motion its other identify: Umbrella Revolution.

The sit-in, which began in September and brought activists like Joshua Wong to worldwide notice, distribute outward from the city’s governing administration places of work, finally blocking crucial streets in 3 major districts and polarizing public impression toward the movement. 

The protest camps ended up cleared following 79 times, bringing the movement to an close devoid of Beijing granting any of its demands for broader democracy. But a new technology of professional-democracy leaders experienced been encouraged by the working experience.

2016: Legislative disqualifications

Undeterred by the stalled 2014 motion, younger professional-democracy advocates sought to adjust the method from within just by functioning for seats in the city’s legislature. Nevertheless some candidates ended up barred from managing above questions about their views on Hong Kong independence, other people ended up elected.

At the commencing of the new legislative phrase, some activists utilised the oath-swearing ceremony to phase protests versus the central government, with activist Sixtus “Baggio” Leung keeping a flag that read through “Hong Kong is not China” throughout his oath. The collection of protests resulted in six elected representatives remaining disqualified from using place of work. 

2019: Anti-extradition protests

In early 2019, next the murder of a Hong Kong girl by her Hong Kong boyfriend although on getaway in Taiwan, authorities proposed an extradition monthly bill allowing for fugitive criminals to be sent for demo in locations with out extradition agreements with Hong Kong, such as Taiwan and mainland China. 

The invoice exposed Hong Kongers to mainland China’s opaque authorized system, increasing fears it could be applied to concentrate on pro-democracy elements in the metropolis and further more curb its freedoms. Protests towards the monthly bill swelled throughout the summer season as reports of law enforcement brutality versus demonstrations and authorities’ first unwillingness to withdraw the monthly bill fueled even more protest needs. 

The largest protest, organizers mentioned, drew as many as 2 million individuals.

Though the extradition bill was sooner or later withdrawn, protests persisted into January 2020, when Hong Kong verified its very first scenario of the coronavirus. More than 10,200 folks have been arrested more than the sometimes-violent protests, which authorities sought to paint as a sequence of riots funded by international powers. About 2,850 have been prosecuted, with several imprisoned for decades.

2020: Countrywide stability regulation

In response to the 2019 protests, Beijing imposed a nationwide protection law on Hong Kong, expressing it was vital to restore order. The legislation, promulgated on the eve of the handover anniversary, made secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with overseas powers punishable by lifestyle in jail. It also allowed for suspects to stand trial in mainland China. Overseas governments and legal rights activists have criticized the law as vaguely worded and draconian. 

The law has because been made use of to concentrate on and shut down Hong Kong’s political opposition. Pretty much 200 persons have been arrested under the regulation, like 81 opposition leaders, 92 regular citizens with no past general public profiles, and 15 journalists, according to the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a nongovernmental group based in Washington.

The too much to handle the greater part of the city’s pro-democracy figures are now behind bars, have withdrawn from community lifetime or are residing in self-imposed exile.

Mass arrests and raids at the city’s pro-democracy newsrooms have unfold panic throughout the city, main independent media outlets and scores of unions and other civil modern society groups to shut down. 

Lee, Hong Kong’s new main executive, has explained just one of his top priorities is to enact the Post 23 laws that failed in 2003, raising fears that the city’s freedoms will be further eroded.