A rioter holds bricks during the disturbances in Mong Kok. While violence in social protests is never justified and nearly always self-defeating, there is now a clear obligation to understand and address its causes. Photo: AP

The rule of law needs more than lip service to survive in Hong Kong

Michael Davis says local officials and politicians have repeatedly failed to protect and preserve Hong Kong’s autonomy, which has created the conditions for cynicism to prosper

Michael C. Davis

Published: 1:47pm, 16 Mar, 2016

Updated: 3:28pm, 15 Aug, 2018

A rioter holds bricks during the disturbances in Mong Kok. While violence in social protests is never justified and nearly always self-defeating, there is now a clear obligation to understand and address its causes. Photo: AP

READ FULL ARTICLE

Michael C. Davis

Michael C. Davis is professor of law and international affairs at the O.P. Jindal Global University in India and a resident fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre in Washington, DC. A professor in the Law Faculty at the University of Hong Kong until late 2016, he continues as a non-resident senior fellow in the university’s Centre for Comparative and Public Law.