34 Time February 3, 2020
World
is starkly visible, luxury apartments towering over
“coffin” homes made up of tiny subdivided cubicles.
Like others of their generation around the world, they
endure a “precarious status,” says Edmund Cheng,
a political scientist at the City University of Hong
Kong, “meaning uncertainty in the future in terms of
job prospects and in terms of social mobility.” Cheng
says young Hong Kongers have found both a collec-
tive identity and a sense of purpose on the protest
front lines.
But in their quest to safeguard their city, they
have plunged a thriving metropolis into chaos. In
the past, the pro-democracy uprisings mostly con-
sisted of marches so orderly that after candlelight
vigils, citizens stayed to scrape wax. Now, high- traffic
neighborhoods denser than Manhattan have become
scenes of bloody, fast- moving battles. At protests,
violent confrontations routinely unfold as crowds
thin and stroller- pushing families and older couples
retreat. Masked agitators coordinate anonymously
via encrypted messaging apps. Dressed in black and
donning Guy Fawkes masks, they smash streetlights,
burn train stations and vandalize stores they deem
pro- Beijing. Some adopt tactical positions: “Fire-
fighters” extinguish smoking gas canisters, while
“fire magicians” pitch Molotov cocktails. “Charge-
boys” have bloody welts from rushing police. “We are
not scared of dying,” goes one typical chant.
Protesters have grown more radical, authorities
more repressive, and the middle ground is vanishing.
Retail outlets now identify as “yellow” (pro- protests)
or “blue” (pro-authorities), and people vote accord-
ingly with their wallets. Police have seized weapons
caches and defused several homemade bombs, in-
cluding two found on school grounds. A man critical
of the protesters was set alight in November, while
police have shot three protesters with live ammuni-
tion, nonfatally. There have been two protest-related
deaths: a university student who fell from height dur-
ing clashes with police, and an elderly cleaner struck
by a brick lobbed by a demonstrator.
Among the dozens of protesters interviewed by
TIME for this story, there is widespread certainty
that escalation is the only way to confront Beijing.
The nonviolent Umbrella Movement of 2014 failed
to achieve its goals of electoral reform, and today’s
generation of protesters is unwilling to abide by red
lines. “Some people might say we have to kill a po-
lice officer,” says M., who asked to be identified only
by her initial. “I would not stop them.”
Even veteran pro-democracy activists are loath to
condemn violence and have credited the front liners,
or “the braves” as they are called in Cantonese, with
forcing the government to backtrack on the extradi-
tion bill. And while protest fatigue has set in, pub-
lic opinion remains largely unified against the gov-
ernment. “The middle and the professional classes
are furious at the government and are furious [that]
they have been losing economic power for the last
15 years,” says Junker.
Further concessions appear unlikely, however.
Instead of acceding to political demands, Beijing
has appointed a new director of the central gov-
ernment’s liaison office in Hong Kong to act as en-
forcer. Since June, nearly 7,000 people have been
arrested, more than 1,000 under the age of 18. The
next generation of Hong Kongers are already mo-
bilizing to join the fight, with 12-year-olds spotted
on the front lines and elementary school students
staging strikes and singing the protest anthem
“Glory to Hong Kong.”
“If they keep arresting us until no one is left on
the streets, then the activity will go underground,”
says Sabrina, a 19-year-old student. Behind her,
on a highway divider near Victoria Park, a line
of graffiti spells out the front liners’ ultimatum:
Freedom or deATh. “There will be no telling,” she
says, flashing a smile, “when we will come back out
and strike again.” —With reporting by Amy guniA
and hillAry leung/hong Kong •KING, 17
“My family
thought I was
a peaceful guy,
marching. Then
I told them that I
was going to the
front line. Since
then, they worry
about me.”CECI, 17
“My parents
don’t know we’re
dating. They are
supportive of
the protests, but
they’re worried
about my safety,
even if it’s a
peaceful rally.”