Read about what's going on in Hong Kong,
Written by Eric Luo
Illustration by Vibhu Venkatesh
Since March 2019, people in Hong Kong have been taking to the streets to protest against the Chinese take-over of Hong Kong. It all started with a Hong Kong man, aka a Hong Konger, who murdered his girlfriend and fled to Taiwan to escape authorities.
Unfortunately, the Hong Kong government could not prosecute the man because there was no extradition treaty between Hong Kong and Taiwan, which would allow the criminal to be deported to Hong for his trial. However, this means that the Hong Kong citizens could be deported to China for prosecution, which is much more severe than those in Hong Kong. This, obviously, led to these huge protests.
The protests were the beginning of a larger movement in Hong Kong against Chinese influence in the country. Despite the extradition bill being taken out of the vote in the state legislature, the people of Hong Kong are still protesting in the streets against expanding Chinese influence.
This leads to more and more public anger in the citizens of Hong Kong because they believe that they deserve their own sovereignty as most of the government of Hong Kong is separate from China as the only thing that Hong Kong relies on China for is military.
The protests are still ongoing as part of the continued resistance to Chinese control over the semi-autonomous state of Hong Kong that is still fighting for its full independence from the oppressive state of China.
Sources for more info:
“Everything You Need to Know about Hong Kong's Return to Chinese Sovereignty.” South China Morning Post, 20 July 2018, www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1983718/everything-you-need-know-about-hong-kongs-return.
“How Will Life Look after 2047? Think Tank Looks to Map Future.” South China Morning Post, 20 July 2018, www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2091219/new-hong-kong-think-tank-focuses-way-forward-beijing-after.
Hughes, Helier Cheung & Roland. “Why Are There Protests in Hong Kong? All the Context You Need.” BBC News, BBC, 4 Sept. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48607723.
Ives, Mike. “What Is Hong Kong's Extradition Bill?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 June 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/world/asia/hong-kong-extradition-bill.html.
Law, Nathan. “The Extradition Bill Might Be 'Dead' but in Hong Kong, We Cannot Afford to Back down | Nathan Law.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 12 July 2019, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/12/hong-kong-protest-extradition-bill-dead-continue-fight.
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