Explainer | How Hong Kong protests erupted and what lies ahead for movement marking anniversary on June 9

A mammoth march morphed into months of clashes between demonstrators and police amid escalating violence

As the bleak year of 2020 plays out under the spectre of a pandemic, it remains to be seen where the movement will head with a new normal

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Protesters march from Causeway Bay to government headquarters in Admiralty in June 2019. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:00am, 9 Jun 2020Updated: 4:01pm, 9 Jun 2020

June 9 last year marked the start of anti-government protests that continued for months, becoming increasingly violent. That day, an estimated 1 million people took to the streets to demonstrate against an extradition bill which would have allowed fugitives to be sent to mainland China and other jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has no exchange arrangement.

The protests became increasingly violent and continued through the rest of 2019. Police responded by firing 16,223 rounds of tear gas, 10,108 rubber bullets, 1,885 sponge grenades, 2,033 beanbag rounds and 19 live bullets between June 2019 and May 2020. A total of 8,981 people were arrested over that period for offences including rioting, common assault and arson.

There was a brief respite from the unrest after the opposition camp swept district council elections in November, taking control of 17 out of 18 councils. For a few months in 2020, there were no protests as the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in January brought various measures to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, including social-distancing rules and restrictions on gatherings. Protesters were back on the streets in May but were often quickly dispersed by more forceful police action.

What sparked the protests in 2019?

It all goes back to the death of a young Hong Kong woman in Taiwan in February 2018. After her body was found stuffed in a suitcase left near a train station, Taipei detectives believed her boyfriend, Hongkonger Chan Tong-kai, 20, was the prime suspect. But he had already returned to Hong Kong and could not be sent to Taiwan to help with investigations because there was no extradition arrangement between the two jurisdictions.

Murder suspect Chan Tong-kai (left) with Reverend Canon Peter Koon. Photo: Winson Wong

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Hong Kong protests, one year on

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