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Hong Kongers Still Defiant One Year Later As National Security Law Looms

Verna Yu

   HONG KONG - On June 9 last year,someone million Hong Kongers staged a
   peacefulprotest againsta proposed extradition law that would allow
   individuals to be sent to China for trial. Little did theyrealizeit was
   just the first of more than 1,000 protests in a drawn-out
   anti-government movement that would plunge the Asian financial hub
   intoone ofthe deepest crises initshistory.

   The protests unleashed years of unprecedented anger and frustration at
   the erosion of freedoms under 23 years of Chinese rule, particularly in
   recent years when Beijingacceleratedpolitical and economic integration
   to bring the former British colony under tighter control.

   The movement has exacted a heavy human cost.Initially peaceful,the
   demonstrationstook a violent turn as the governmentwas seen asturninga
   deaf ear and police increasingly used tear gas, rubber bullets, water
   cannons and even live rounds on protesters, who first threw objects and
   later threwMolotovcocktails, set objectsablazeand wrecked banks,metro
   stationsandpro-Chinaretail outlets.

   Although the Hong Kong government belatedly withdrew theextraditionbill
   four months after the initial protests, police brutality and the
   government's refusal to launch an independent investigation into police
   violence further fueled protesters' anger as some resorted to more
   radical actions.

   More than 8,900 people, of whom about 40% were students, have been
   arrested in more than 1,000 protests since Juneoflastyear.

   Although many ordinary Hong Kongers do not agree with violent tactics
   on either side,manysympathize with the radical young protesters and
   share their sense of desperation and frustration at a
   governmentthatseemsanswerable to Beijing and not ordinary citizens.
   Hong Kong's top leader is chosen by a largely pro-Beijing elite
   committee of around 1,200 people. Only half of the city's legislature
   is elected by ordinary voters,and because it isdominated by pro-Beijing
   lawmakers, it does not have the power to vote down unpopular bills.

   "I feel heartbroken that our young people have made so many sacrifices.
   But if Hong Kong doesn't resist, then China can do what it wants," said
   a 71-year-old retiree surnamed Chow who escaped from China to Hong Kong
   in his teenage years. "People of our generation were tooweak,we didn't
   have the courage to fight against China. We simply fled."

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