It began with the
extradition proposal on 4/3/19 and protests turned peaceful on 8/18/19. These
massive protests have persisted for over 4 months. Hong Kong citizens are
insisting that China honor the 50 year autonomy agreement made in 1997 and
effective until 2047. See below. Hong Kong: Timeline
of extradition protests, 8/19/19, BBC.
The first big protests - On 9 June, an estimated one million people marched to the government headquarters to show they were against the proposed bill. It was largely a peaceful rally, though some small skirmishes broke out.
Carrie Lam delays the bill - Another three days later, on 15 June, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam issued a dramatic reversal, saying she would indefinitely delay the extradition bill. Despite this, an estimated two million people took to the streets the following day, 16 June, demanding the bill be withdrawn completely and calling for Ms Lam's resignation.
Protesters storm parliament - On 1 July, the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from the UK to China, the Legislative Council (LegCo) building was stormed by protesters who sprayed graffiti on the walls, displayed the colonial-era flag and defaced Hong Kong's regional emblem.
It's not just about extradition anymore
Violent clashes become the norm - On 3 August, protests took place for the ninth consecutive weekend. Police again fired tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds at protesters, something many had now come to expect. By this time protesters were wearing masks and protective gear at every demonstration.
Airport shut down by protesters - Protests moved into a tenth week without showing signs of dying down.
What the protesters want now - The movement is largely leaderless and not everyone has the same end goals. Over the weeks, new demands have been added. By this point, here is what protesters want: Complete withdrawal of the extradition bill; The withdrawal of the "riot" description used about the 12 June protests; An amnesty for all arrested protesters; An independent inquiry into alleged police brutality; Universal suffrage in elections for Hong Kong's chief executive (the territory's leader), and Legislative Council; Some are still calling for Carrie Lam to resign, though that demand is less prominent by this stage.
The first peaceful weekend - One week after the airport clashes, a new rally took place on 18 August. Amid reports of Chinese police and military gathering across the border in Shenzhen, tensions were high. But the protest remained peaceful, and for the first time in weeks, there were no major clashes between police and activists.
The first big protests - On 9 June, an estimated one million people marched to the government headquarters to show they were against the proposed bill. It was largely a peaceful rally, though some small skirmishes broke out.
Carrie Lam delays the bill - Another three days later, on 15 June, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam issued a dramatic reversal, saying she would indefinitely delay the extradition bill. Despite this, an estimated two million people took to the streets the following day, 16 June, demanding the bill be withdrawn completely and calling for Ms Lam's resignation.
Protesters storm parliament - On 1 July, the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from the UK to China, the Legislative Council (LegCo) building was stormed by protesters who sprayed graffiti on the walls, displayed the colonial-era flag and defaced Hong Kong's regional emblem.
It's not just about extradition anymore
Violent clashes become the norm - On 3 August, protests took place for the ninth consecutive weekend. Police again fired tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds at protesters, something many had now come to expect. By this time protesters were wearing masks and protective gear at every demonstration.
Airport shut down by protesters - Protests moved into a tenth week without showing signs of dying down.
What the protesters want now - The movement is largely leaderless and not everyone has the same end goals. Over the weeks, new demands have been added. By this point, here is what protesters want: Complete withdrawal of the extradition bill; The withdrawal of the "riot" description used about the 12 June protests; An amnesty for all arrested protesters; An independent inquiry into alleged police brutality; Universal suffrage in elections for Hong Kong's chief executive (the territory's leader), and Legislative Council; Some are still calling for Carrie Lam to resign, though that demand is less prominent by this stage.
The first peaceful weekend - One week after the airport clashes, a new rally took place on 18 August. Amid reports of Chinese police and military gathering across the border in Shenzhen, tensions were high. But the protest remained peaceful, and for the first time in weeks, there were no major clashes between police and activists.
What
started as demonstrations against an extradition bill have since taken on a
much wider scope and are now demanding full democratic rights for Hong Kongers.
On 3
April, Hong Kong's government introduced plans for changes to a
legislation that would for criminal suspects to potentially be extradited to
China.
Critics
warned the bill could undermine Hong Kong's legal freedoms and might be used to
intimidate or silence dissidents.
This is a
timeline of what happened next and how the movement evolved.
Three days later, on 12
June, a fresh demonstration took place at which police fired tear gas
and rubber bullets.
The
stand-off developed into the worst violence Hong Kong had seen in decades.
Over the next days, anger grew towards the police and on 21 June, protesters blockaded
police headquarters for 15 hours. They now demanded that protesters who were
arrested during previous protests should be exonerated.
One week later, on 7
July, tens of thousands marched in Kowloon - an area popular with
mainland tourists - in a bid to explain their concerns. Until this point the
protests had received little if any coverage in state-run mainland media.
On 9 July,
Carrie Lam reiterated that the extradition bill was "dead" urging
protesters to stop their actions. She still refrained from fully withdrawing
the bill.
On 21 July,
protesters defaced China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong. That same night, mobs
of men wearing white-shirts attack commuters in Yuen Long underground station -
near mainland China- in a new escalation of violence.
Some suspected these were members of gangs called triads and
pointed out that police arrived very late to stop them.
On 27 July, thousands demonstrated in Yuen Long condemning the station
attack. Police responded by firing tear gas at the unauthorized protests.
On 2 August, even civil servants - supposed to be politically neutral -
joined demonstrations in their thousands.
By this
point it had become clear the protests had evolved well beyond the initial
demand of the withdrawal of the extradition bill. Some protesters said it was
now about what they saw as the erosion of the special freedoms Hong Kong has. A
former British colony and now part of China, Hong Kong is run under a "one
country, two systems" agreement that guarantees it a level of autonomy,
its own judiciary and a separate legal system from the mainland. But there was
also a lot of anger towards how the police handled the situation, and their use
of force.
On 5 August, yet another city-wide strike was held, bringing
services across Hong Kong to a standstill. Carrie Lam gave her first media
address in two weeks, saying Hong Kong was "on the verge of a very
dangerous situation".
On 6 August, China warned the
protesters not to "play with fire," not to "underestimate the
firm resolve [of] the central government" and not to "mistake restraint
for weakness".
It was one of the strongest warnings Beijing had issued over the
protests.
On 11
August, police stormed enclosed railway stations, firing tear
gas at protesters, leading yet again to dramatic scenes of confrontation.
During the
violence that Sunday, one protester was injured in her eye - it remains unclear
how - becoming a symbol of the protest movement.
The next
day, on 12 August, protesters gathered at
the airport, leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled.
The
protest again saw violent clashes between the activists and police and China
condemned them as "behavior that is close to terrorism" - in a sign
of Beijing's rhetoric hardening.
As the
airport standoff was under way, Hong Kong police admitted deploying officers
disguised as anti-government protesters during the unrest the previous day.
Some
officers disguised themselves as "different characters", a spokesman said,
adding that the "decoy operation" had targeted "extreme violent
rioters".
The
targeting of suspected under-cover officers at the airport by protesters, one
of whom turned out to be a reporter, tarnished the image of the protesters.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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