HONG KONG

ON THE BRINK

The bustling city has been brought to its

knees by weeks of protests against China.

Here’sthelowdown COMPILED BY SANDY COOK

O

MINOUS winds of un-
rest have been blowing
through an island re-
garded as one of the
jewels of the East. For
weeks TV footage has
been beaming across
the globe, showing
protesters and police clashing.
And the trouble shows no sign of
abating. Analysts warn the protests
could be the 21st century’s Tiananmen
Square, a bloody blot on China’s history
that resulted in the death of 3 000 people
in Beijing after student protests turned
violent. Here’s what’s been going on.

FIRST, A BIT OF

BACKGROUND

HOWTHEPROTESTSSTARTED

Hong Kong was returned to China in

1997 after being leased by the British

for 99 years.

The island continued to enjoy a high

degreeofautonomy,withitsownlegal

systemanditsownborders.Rights,

including freedom of assembly and

free speech, are also protected.

Hong Kong is one of the few places

in China where people are permitted

to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen

Square crackdown.

InApril,HongKongintroduceda contro­

versialbillthatwouldallowpeopletobe

extraditedtomainlandChinawherethe

Communistpartycontrolsthecourts.

Criticsbelievedanyonesenttothemainland

couldfaceanunfairtrial.

Theyalsoarguedtheproposedlawwould

giveChinamorecontroloverHongKong.

Thiscomesagainsta backdropoffrustration

overworseninginequalityandthehighcost

oflivinginthedenselypopulatedcity.

There’salsobeena pushforfulldemocra­

cyinHongKong,whoseleaderiselectedby

a pro­Beijingbodychosenbyjust6%of

eligible voters.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took

to the streets to demand the extradition bill

be shelved completely.

Eventually, Hong Kong’s leader, CARRIE

LAM, said the bill would be suspended – but

this did nothing to appease protesters, who

feared the bill could be revived.

Activistshavevowedtocontinueprotest­

inguntiltheircoredemandsaremet:the

removalofLam,who’sseenasa puppetof

Beijing;anindependentinquiryintopolice

brutality; amnesty for arrested protesters;

and permanent withdrawal of the extradition

bill.

Lam has begged protesters to stop the

city from being plunged into chaos. “Hong

Kong is seriously wounded,” she said.

‘Hong Kong is

seriously wounded’

90 | 29 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za