2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
The 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests (also known by other names) were a series of demonstrations against the Hong Kong government's introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in regard to extradition. It was the largest series of demonstrations in the history of Hong Kong.[22][23]
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
Entire movement:
Since 15 March 2019[1]
Large-scale break-out:
9 June 2019 – mid-2020
- Protests begin to diminish in scale in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong[2][3][4]
- The Hong Kong government declares that most street demonstrations have ceased since the Hong Kong national security law came into effect in mid-2020[5]
- Introduction of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019
- Alleged misconduct by the Hong Kong Police Force against protesters (since 12 June 2019)[6][7][8]
- Tensions between Hong Kong and mainland China, political screening, economic and social inequality[9]
- Failure of the 2014 Umbrella Revolution[10]
Five Demands
- Full withdrawal of the extradition bill
- Retraction of the characterisation of protests as "riots"
- Release and exoneration of arrested protesters
- Establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into police behaviour
- Resignation of Carrie Lam and universal suffrage for the Legislative Council and the chief executive elections
Diverse (see tactics and methods)
Government crackdown on protesters and their supporters
- Imposition of the 2020 Hong Kong national security law by the Chinese central government on 30 June 2020, resulting in mass emigration from Hong Kong
- Two invocations of the colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance to implement an anti-mask law and postpone the 2020 election
- Overhaul of Hong Kong's electoral system by the Chinese central government in early 2021 to ensure only "patriots" govern Hong Kong
- Mass arrest, disqualification, and exile of prominent pro-democracy activists and lawmakers
- Crackdown on pro-democracy news media, including Apple Daily, Stand News, and Citizen News
-
- Suspension of extradition treaties with Hong Kong by the United States, United Kingdom and various Western nations
- Deterioration of Hong Kong–Taiwan, China–United States and China–United Kingdom relations
- Second round of US embargoes and sanctions against China, including Executive Order 13936 under Hong Kong Autonomy Act
Bill suspended on 15 June 2019 and officially withdrawn on 23 October 2019
15 (as of 20 April 2020)[a]
almost 3,000[21]
The protests began with a sit-in at the government headquarters on 15 March 2019 and a demonstration attended by hundreds of thousands on 9 June 2019, followed by a gathering outside the Legislative Council Complex on 12 June which stalled the bill's second reading. On 16 June, just one day after the Hong Kong government suspended the bill, a larger protest took place to push for its complete withdrawal. The protest was also in response to the perceived excessive use of force by the Hong Kong Police Force on 12 June. As the protests progressed, activists laid out five key demands. Police inaction during the 2019 Yuen Long attack and brutality in 2019 Prince Edward station attack further escalated the protests.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam withdrew the bill on 4 September, but refused to concede to the other four demands. A month later, she invoked emergency powers to implement an anti-mask law, escalating the confrontations. The storming of the Legislative Council in July 2019, deaths of Chow Tsz-lok and Luo Changqing, one of whom was unarmed, and sieges of the Chinese University and the Polytechnic University in November 2019 were landmark events. The unprecedented landslide victory of the pro-democracy camp in the November local election was widely regarded as a de facto referendum on the city's governance.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong in early 2020 largely silenced the protests. Tensions mounted again in May 2020 after Beijing's decision to promulgate a national security bill for Hong Kong. By mid-2020, the Hong Kong government had declared the restoration of peace and stability with the imposition of the national security law. More than a hundred people, including several prominent activists, have been arrested since the imposition of the law. The resulting political atmosphere, along with the crackdown on civil society, sparked a wave of mass emigration from the city.[5][24]
The approval ratings of the government and the police plunged to their lowest points since the 1997 handover. The Central People's Government alleged that foreign powers were instigating the conflict, although the protests have been largely described as "leaderless". The United States passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act on 27 November 2019 in response to the movement. The tactics and methods used in Hong Kong inspired other protests that followed worldwide.[25]
Names[edit]
In Hong Kong, the name Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement or Anti-Extradition Bill Movement (Chinese: 反對逃犯條例修訂草案運動／反修例運動) is often used to refer to the protests as a whole, including demonstrations after the suspension of the bill.[22][26][27] The name 2019 Hong Kong protests is sometimes used as there is no generally agreed upon end date to the protests.[28]
On 27 October 2019, Politico editor-in-chief Jamil Anderlini published an article in the Financial Times titled "Hong Kong's 'water revolution' spins out of control".[29] A reference to martial artist Bruce Lee's fighting advice to "be [like] water", the name Water Revolution subsequently gained popularity among protesters.[30][31]
Initially, protesters demanded only the withdrawal of the extradition bill. Following an escalation in the severity of policing tactics on 12 June 2019, the protesters' objective was to achieve the following five demands (under the slogan "Five demands, not one less"):[45]