Hong Kong citizens marched in their hundreds of thousands in the summer of 2019 to protest a bill which would allow Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to China for persecution, undermining the autonomy of Hong Kong and giving more control to China. 

​

The summer was filled with peaceful marches and violent clashes between protesters and police. Protesters set demands, took over universities  and public spaces and violently clashed with police.

​

Protesters said that the bill was another breach of “one country two systems.” This wasn’t the first time protesters clashed with the government over legislation. The movement against the pro-Beijing leaning government has become known as the “Umbrella Movement.” ​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Until July 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony before it was handed back to China after 99 years under the crown. It was a historic day marking the end of the British Empire. 

​

The agreed handover was also supposed to mean a period of autonomy for Hong Kong and their democratic system, a system which has been, as Jason Y. Ng, an activist and author writes, “engineered to entrench vested interest, maximize government control and disable political opposition.”

​

Many who took part in the protest were young. Most were not born when Hong Kong was given back to China or they were too young to remember. By June last year, out of the eight thousand arrested, over 1,707 of them were under the age of 18.

​

In 2020, when the whole world was in a pandemic China moved forward with a national security law, which allowed authorities the power to prosecute heavily for subversion, succession or collusion with foreign powers. Already in 2020, it has been used to arrest political opposition, prominent pro-democracy activists and leading news figures.

​

​

China has been widely condemned by the international community including the UK and in 2019, Prime Minister Boris Jonhson opened up migration opportunities for Hong Kongers who were eligible to apply for a British National Overseas Passport. The eligibility window could include as many as 3 million people but currently, only around 350,000 have BNO passports. 

​

Jackie, 28, a Hong Kong student studying in Edinburgh,  is now living in the UK. Due to the violence, the security law and the lack of opportunities for young people in the city, he would “most likely never go back.”

​

Eric Saude, an academic and political commentator, based in Hong Kong says we are in a “wait and see moment” whilst people are still unhappy and disgruntled with the government, he is uncertain whether there will be a mass exodus: “it was the same back in 1997. You had people leaving and then a lot of people came back. If you look at most famous universities like Hong Kong University, for example, there is almost a jump in new enrollments of 8%.

 

At the end of the day, however, the 1997 handover did happen and the international community looks powerless to influence the conflict. Some Hong Kongerers have fled the city and others stay to either live peacefully or continue to fight. All they know is there is no going back now as Hong Kong's future seems uncertain. 

​

In this special edition, we hear from the voices of Hong Kongers who continue to carry out their activism in other ways and who still have hope for Hong Kong.