The difference between Occupy and extradition protests: more Hongkongers now believe the use of violence is justified
- Occupy protesters emphasised ‘love and peace’ in their demands for universal suffrage. Five years on, the threshold for confrontation seems lower
- Fernando Cheung: ‘It could take decades to mend the hatred and misunderstanding’
Back in 2014, at the height of the Occupy protests, Labour Party lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung tried to dissuade a group of young protesters from breaking into the Legislative Council complex with metal barricades – to no avail.
On Monday, the mediation efforts of the trained social worker at the very same venue came to naught once again.
Glass doors at the entrances of the legislature were smashed in a violent showdown. While protesters appeared to retreat over the next hour or so, by nightfall, their numbers grew again and they redoubled their attacks.
As the holes in the glass doors grew bigger and a metal shutter was pried open, they flooded into the building, making their way into the legislative chamber, spray-painting graffiti and defacing the seal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
What moved them to such violent acts? Whatever happened to the peaceful and non-violent principles the city had long embraced – and as witnessed in the countless protests over the past two decades?