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Hong Kong protests: one year on, with the national security law looming, has the anti-government movement lost?
- Hong Kong is marking a year since the anti-government movement began
- What future for a movement beaten into retreat by a pandemic and looming national security law?
Reading Time:10 minutes
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As Hong Kong marks a year since anti-government movement began, this article is first in a series analysing how key players have fared.
Fourteen-year-old Chak-lam arrived at Admiralty at 8am on May 27 and found herself all alone.
She had heard the call, the night before, for protesters to besiege Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and block lawmakers from scrutinising the national anthem bill that would penalise anyone who misused or insulted March of the Volunteers.
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Instead of black-clad demonstrators, the area was swarming with police officers who allowed only authorised staff and journalists through checkpoints.
The tight security cordon was nothing like the scene almost a year ago on June 12, 2019, when thousands of protesters blocked roads and surrounded Legco to disrupt deliberations on another piece of unpopular legislation, the extradition bill which would have sent fugitives to mainland China.
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The mostly young activists succeeded in stopping the sitting, after clashing with police and hurling bricks and projectiles amid clouds of tear gas, in an episode that marked the start of months of anti-government protests and violent confrontations.
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