Hong Kong Protests: What and Why

It has been months since the protests in Hong Kong have started. You might have seen the news articles released every few days updating the ground situation. Since the protest started in March last year, there have been a lot of developments and changes, lots of ups and down. But what exactly elicited such a situation? In this write-up, we will looking at the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of the Hong Kong protests, that stirred up a great deal of debate.

WHAT

The ongoing protests in Hong Kong which started on March 15, 2019. Though the protest was triggered by the introduction of Fugitive Offenders Amendment Bill, it gained momentum due to alleged misconduct of the Hong Kong Police and some other reasons which fanned the conflict between the region and mainland China. Since the protest started, it is reported that over 7,000 arrests were made (including students and peaceful protestors) while 2,600+ people were injured with 2 deaths.

WHY

There are a number of reasons behind the still brewing unrest, the main ones being –

• Introduction of Fugitive Offenders Amendment Bill which, if enacted, would allow the ‘extradition’ of criminals who are wanted in territories with which Hong Kong has no extradition agreements, including Mainland China.

The main concern about this bill is that it would subject Hong Kong residents and visitors to the jurisdiction of Mainland China, thus undermining the autonomy of the region and people’s rights.

• There have also been a number of reports of police misconduct since June 12, 2019. This led to another round of protests with the demand of proper investigation.

• Also, Hong Kong and Mainland China’s history of conflict and the failure of 2014’s Umbrella Revolution.

• The fuel to the fire happened to be a number of restrictions placed on the common citizens by the police and the mainland Chinese authority. This included the implementation of anti-mask law and invocation of Emergency Regulations Ordinance in October, 2019.

The main objectives of the ongoing protests from the citizens’ side are as follows –

• Full withdrawal of the extradition bill which was achieved when the bill was suspended on June 15, 2019 and officially withdrawn in October.

• Release of all the arrested protestors and retraction of the term ‘riot’ used for June 12 protest. This was partially done with police retracting the characterization save for five people.

• Establishment of an independent commission for inquiry into police behavior.

• Resignation of Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong since 2017 as it was her government that pushed for the controversial extradition bill in the first place.

The last two demands have not yet been met.