The Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Protests
In February 2019 the Hong Kong government introduced a bill permitting case-by-case extradition to jurisdictions including mainland China. Because the separation of Hong Kong's common-law courts from the mainland system was the practical content of 'one country, two systems', the bill was understood as removing the territory's central protection. Marches in June drew crowds organisers put at one and two million, in a population of seven and a half million. The movement adopted five demands — withdrawal of the bill, an independent inquiry into police conduct, retraction of the 'riot' characterisation, amnesty for those arrested, and universal suffrage — under the slogan 'Five demands, not one less'. It was deliberately leaderless, coordinated through online forums and encrypted messaging, a structure adopted so that arresting organisers could not stop it. Confrontations escalated through the autumn, including sieges of the Chinese University and Polytechnic University. The bill was formally withdrawn in September 2019; the other four demands were not met. In November, pro-democracy candidates swept the district council elections. In June 2020, bypassing the Hong Kong legislature entirely, Beijing imposed a national security law creating offences of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Opposition parties disbanded, independent newspapers closed, and most prominent activists were imprisoned or left. The Sino-British Joint Declaration had guaranteed the existing system for fifty years from 1997; it lasted twenty-three.
- Year: 2019 CE
- Category: Political
