Although it has been over 5 months since the Hong Kong protests started, they do not seem to go down anytime soon. Despite the brutal repression of police, Hong Kong citizens are still fighting back against their government for absolute democracy. Impressed with their struggle, a great number of people from other countries are showing their support to Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong protests, also known as the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement first occurred on June 9, 2019. Everything began with the Fugitive Offender amendment bill that was proposed by Hong Kong government on March 29. This bill could let China indict people who are against Chinese Communist party, which was basically breaking the “one country, two systems” principle. At first, the opposition demonstrations were non-violent, but as they became gradually intense, the government deemed them as a riot and commanded the police to suppress them by force. More than 2000 people were injured, and on 8th November, the first casualty was reported.
On October 23, the Hong Kong government finally withdrew the bill, but did not accept the protesters’ other 4 demands;
- Revocation of labeling the protests as a riot
- Amnesty for arrested protesters
- An independent committee for investigating police brutality
- Enforcement of universal franchise
Lastly, today, the result of Hong Kong’s district council elections turned out to be a landslide victory of pro-democracy parties, winning in 17 out of 18 district councils.
Global Social Issues Blog 