ExclusiveHong Kong protests: why the mantra of ‘no cutting of ties’ means no one will chide the violent demonstrators
- Hongkongers have become accustomed to the sight of physical fights between police and protesters, the mess and mayhem and the clouds of tear gas fired
- But psychology professor says ‘people are habituating to violence’, while activist says ‘the city needs more people with kind hearts and critical minds’ to change things
Rebel City: Hong Kong’s Year of Water and Fire is a new book of essays by the South China Morning Post chronicling the political confrontation that has gripped the city since June 2019. Edited by the South China Morning Post’s Zuraidah Ibrahim and Jeffie Lam, it draws on the work from the Post’s newsrooms across Hong Kong, Beijing, Washington and Singapore. This weekend and next, we will run excerpts from the 512-page book now available online and at bookstores.
As she dived into the sea of demonstrators, Anna Chan Wah shrugged off the scorching heat, the blaring loudspeakers and, in the pit of her stomach, a gnawing fear of failure.
“We know our street protest today is not going to change anything,” the sixth former said solemnly. “But we are here to fight for democracy in Hong Kong and to show that we still have a voice.”
It was 2003 and Chan was 18 when she joined the half-a-million people who took to the streets to oppose a piece of national security legislation the government had introduced. Chan feared the bill, which was to deal with treason and sedition against Beijing, would curb Hongkongers’ freedoms and rights guaranteed under the “one country, two systems” governing principle.
“We need to show our concern, not just through discussion but action.”
Chan kept her word. Long after the bill was aborted, she continued to attend democracy rallies, first as an undergraduate and then as a secondary-school teacher.
On June 9, 2019, when an estimated 1 million people marched in protest against the extradition bill, which would have allowed fugitives to be tried on the mainland, she was in the crowd. “Hongkongers might seem to care only about money most of the time but they would definitely stand up when their freedoms and core values are eroded,” said Chan, now 34 and mother of an eight-year-old son. “That is the Hongkongers’ spirit. We have not changed.”