Hong Kong: Fighting For Freedom
Reported by Rashad Smith
Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, is in a state of civil unrest. Protests are ever-present as citizens gather in large groups to object to the mainland backed government’s control and receive full democratic rights.
In April of this year, Hong Kong’s government proposed a bill that would alter their current legislation. If passed, arrested citizens could be extradited back to the mainland for further prosecution outside of Hong Kong’s system. Much of the general public saw this as an infringement on their rights and took action.
Mass public demonstration is nothing new to the country, as the BBC reported that previously there were “large protests in 2003 (up to 500,000 people took to the streets and led to a controversial security bill being scrapped) and annual marches for universal suffrage.” Similar actions were taken this year. by thousands of citizens in the streets wearing masks to conceal their identities from law enforcement to prevent prosecution while participating.
After three months of protests, in September, the extradition bill proposal was terminated. Despite the completion of the original goal for public outcry, the fire in Hong Kong citizens had been burning too brightly to suddenly dissipate. This had reached far beyond just the bill, and marches for full democratic rights independent of China has become the current objective.
As a result, incidents across the country have occurred with endangerments to public safety. Involvement with police has led to usage of tear gas and rubber bullets. On the other hand, protesters have taken numerous precautions with lasers to block out facial recognizing cameras in addition to their masks. Firebombs, bricks, defamation of public buildings/monuments and even smashing traffic lights have all been tactics used by protesters in the name of acquiring democracy.
The work of extremists has been brought to the attention of Carrie Lam, the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong, who told Time magazine that “ The rioters’ extremist behavior brought a very dark night upon Hong Kong. Everybody is worried, concerned and scared. The government has the strongest determination to stop the violence.” Recently, a nationwide ban was put on wearing masks in public for public protests. Many citizens still defy the ban anyway.
Hong Kong has reached a point where the government and its citizens are only constantly at odds with one another like many other countries in the world. Media coverage has even brought repercussions to those who voice their opinions publicly outside of China. While the initial goal was met, the protests have opened new doors for Hong Kong to change like never before. To achieve a goal like this, there are no clear signs of this fight stopping any time soon.