Indelible City, writes Alex Salmon, looks at the struggles of the people of Hong Kong to maintain their city’s identity while caught between British colonialism and Stalinist China.
2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy movement
Hong Kong riot police stormed the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), one of the prestigious universities in Hong Kong, on November 12, despite making several promises to the university administration that they would not.
Students are continuing their campaign for democratic measures, following their successful push to force the Carrie Lam administration to retreat on the unpopular extradition bill.
Hong Kong police unleashed a new wave of violence against protesters on November 11, killing one and injuring others. Green Left’s Pip Hinman asked student activist Wlam*, who is currently studying in Australia, about the democracy movement and where things are headed. (*Wlam is a pseudonym to protect his identity.)
Hong Kong's government just withdrew the anti–civil liberties bill that set off huge, rolling protests and convulsed the city for months. But the political crisis is bigger than one measure — and protesters could be emboldened to push for even more, writes Kevin Lin.
A four-hour standoff turned violent when pro-China students at the University of Queensland (UQ) confronted students supportive of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong on July 24, with some Hong Kong students now fearing for their safety after receiving death threats.
Hong Kong’s ongoing protests are a dramatic reminder that mass street demonstrations can defeat seemingly undefeatable legislation.
Last month, the million-strong marches forced the Hong Kong government to shelve its China extradition bill, which critics say would allow Beijing to muzzle dissident voices in the former British colony. Unsatisfied with mere suspension, protesters have demanded the bill’s complete withdrawal and the resignation of Hong Kong’s Beijing-approved chief executive, Carrie Lam.
Green Left Weekly’s Susan Price spoke to Rena Lau, a Hong-Kong based activist, about the protest movement that has erupted there against the proposed extradition bill.