In the Nov 2019 post,
The Bell on the Tiger 解鈴還須繫鈴人, the character Li said "...the problem of Hong Kong should be handled by Hong Kong people." Li's friend Val said "Perhaps it is time that these politicians and community leaders (of Hong Kong) who started the problem act responsibly, and let young people go back to schools and others back to work." That did not happen.
Protests begin to diminish in scale in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most street demonstrations ceased since Beijing introduced the Hong Kong national security law in June 2020.
The five demands of the 2019 protest were:
- 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
The extradition bill was withdrawn. The other four demands were unsuccessful. I believe the main reason for protesting against the extradition bill was the fear that Beijing would use that bill as an excuse to arrest people and extradite them to mainland China. The Beijing government did not need to do that. They introduced the Hong Kong national security law. I think based on that law, the Chinese government can arrest anyone in Hong Kong and take them to mainland China.
According to Wikipedia, the results of the 2019-2020 protests are:
- Overhaul of Hong Kong electoral system by China in early 2021 to ensure only "patriots" rule Hong Kong,
- Mass arrest, disqualification, and/or exile of prominent pro-democratic activists and lawmakers,
- Two invocations of colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance for implementation of anti-mask law and postponement of election,
- 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,
- Crackdown on news media including Apple Daily, RTHK, Stand News, Citizen News and other outlets.
Were the protests worth it? If the protests had remained peaceful, would they have achieve more?
The 2014 demonstration for more democracy was called "Occupy Central with Love and Peace". That soon led to the more confrontational Umbrella Movement. The mass demonstration on 12th June 2019 was meant to be peaceful. Increasingly violent clashes between protesters and police followed.
I believe the pro-democracy leaders made a major mistake in not condemning violence. I recalled one well known pro-democracy commentator said (probably in 2014) violence would not work. Yet in 2019, when young protestors became increasingly violent, he said he did not agree with their actions but would not condemn or dissociate from them.
I suspect a peaceful approach would have done better.
