2019–2020 Hong Kong protests

2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests
The 9 June protest captured in Hennessy Road
Date	28 April 2019 – ongoing
Location	Hong Kong: Wan Chai to Admiralty (31 March 2019) Causeway Bay to Admiralty (28 April 2019) Central to Admiralty (6 June 2019) Causeway Bay to Admiralty (9 June 2019) Some other dozens cities abroad
Caused by	The proposal of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 by the Government of Hong Kong
Goals	Withdrawal of the bill Prevent extradition to mainland China Resignation of Chief executive Carrie Lam
Methods	Occupations, sit-ins, civil disobedience, mobile street protests, internet activism
Parties
Legal profession Law Society of Hong Kong Hong Kong Bar Association Pro-democracy activists Civil Human Rights Front Demosistō Pro-democracy camp Authorities Hong Kong SAR Government Hong Kong Police Force Chinese central government Communist Party of China
Arrests
Arrested	358

The 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests are a series of demonstrations in Hong Kong and other cities around the world, demanding the withdrawal of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 proposed by the Government of Hong Kong. It is feared that the bill would cause the city to open itself up to the reach of mainland Chinese law and that people from Hong Kong could become subject to a different legal system.

Various protests have been launched in Hong Kong by the general public and legal communities. Among these, the 9 June protest organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, which the organisation estimates was attended by 1.03 million people, has gained large mass media coverage. Protests in other places were also launched by overseas Hong Kong people.

Despite the widespread demonstrations, the government insists on the bill's passage, claiming that the bill is urgent and that the legal "loophole" should be fixed.

Background

Main article: Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019

The Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 (Chinese: 2019年逃犯及刑事事宜相互法律協助法例(修訂)條例草案) is a proposed bill regarding extradition to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) in relation to special surrender arrangements and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance (Cap. 525) so that arrangements for mutual legal assistance can be made between Hong Kong and any place outside Hong Kong. The bill was proposed by the Hong Kong government in February 2019 to request the surrender of a Hong Kong suspect in a homicide case in Taiwan. The government proposed to establish a mechanism for transfers of fugitives not only for Taiwan, but also for Mainland China and Macau, which are not covered in the existing laws.

31 March: First protest

The first protest was launched by Civil Human Rights Front on 31 March, starting from Luard Road (Southorn Playground) to the Civic Square. Protesters chanted "With extradition to the mainland, Hong Kong becomes a dark prison" and "Stop the evil law". Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books who was part of the disappearances of several bookshop owners, stood at the forefront of the rally along with other pro-democracy group members. Lam has left Hong Kong to Taiwan afterwards for personal security reasons.

The organisation claimed 12,000 attended the march, while the Hong Kong Police Force estimated to just 5,200 people. The organisers stated that there will be further protests soon if the government still insists with the bill.

28 April: Second protest

Thousands of protesters marched on the street against the proposed extradition law on 28 April 2019.

On 28 April, an estimated 130,000 protesters joined the march against proposed extradition law, while police estimated that only 22,800 joined. The turnout was the largest since an estimated 510,000 joined the annual 1 July protest in 2014. The rally started from Causeway Bay to the Legislative Council in Admiralty, which is a 2.2 km route. It took more than 4 hours.

Vice-convenor of the front, Figo Chan Ho-hang, threatened to escalate its opposition if the government did not withdraw the bill.

A day after the protest, Chief Executive Carrie Lam was adamant that the bill would be enacted and said the Legislative Councillors had to pass new extradition laws before their summer break, even though the man at the heart of a case used to justify the urgency of new legislation Chan Tong-kai had been jailed for 29 months shortly before. Chan received a prison sentence of 29 months on 29 April. However, since he had already been detained for 13 months since his arrest in Hong Kong, his sentence would end in August 2020. Secretary for Security John Lee claimed that Chan could be released by October at the earliest since good behaviour in prison can result in a one-third reduction of a prisoner's sentence, and he would then be free to leave the city.

6 June: Lawyers' silent march

Thousands of lawyers marched in black against the extradition bill on 6 June 2019.

In a rare protest, more than 3,000 Hong Kong lawyers, representing around one quarter of the city's lawyers, marched against the bill. Wearing black, they marched from the Court of Final Appeal to the Central Government Offices on 6 June. They then stood in front of the government headquarters looking at the building for three minutes silently.

The march was organised by Dennis Kwok, Legislative Councillor for the Legal constituency. It was the fifth, and largest, protest march held by lawyers in Hong Kong since 1997 after a series of intrusions by the Chinese Government.

While lawyers expressed grave reservations about the openness and fairness of the justice system in China, limited access to a lawyer, and the prevalence of torture, Secretary for Security John Lee said the legal sector did not really understand the bill. A senior barrister complained that government's inability or unwillingness to listen was polarising, adding that it was "so stupid, so arrogant."

9 June: Third and largest protest

Protest in Hong Kong

Day peaceful protest

The organisers claimed there were record breaking 1.03 million protesters showed up in the streets on 9 June.

In response to the proposed bill, the Civil Human Rights Front launched a long march from Victoria Park, Causeway Bay to the Legislative Council in Admiralty on 9 June, an approximately 3km route. Hundreds of thousands of protesters were drawn to the street, wearing in white to symbolise "light and brightness" and justice, chanting "Scrap the evil law," "Oppose China extradition" and "Carrie Lam resign" and waving Taiwanese flags on the day.

Protesters brought Hong Kong Island to a halt from early afternoon to late at night. The MTR enacted crowd control measures by the order of the police in which the trains did not stop at Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Tin Hau stations for hours. Protesters had to get off at Fortress Hill in order to join the protest from there. Police urged protesters to march from Victoria Park before the 3 pm start-time to ease overcrowding. During the march, there are several times where the protesters come to a standstill due to the limited road space opened by the police. People chanted "open the road", demanding police to open up more roads. Some protesters also climb over a metal barricade and walked on lanes that are blocked. Eventually, police opened up all lanes on Hennessy Road after initially refusing to do so.

A large number of protesters were still leaving Victoria Park up to four hours after the start time and were still arriving at the end-point at Admiralty seven hours after the protest began.

Jimmy Sham, convener of the Civil Human Rights Front claimed 1.03 million people attended the march, the largest protest Hong Kong has ever seen since the 1997 handover, surpassing the turnout seen at mass rallies in support of the Tiananmen protests of 1989 and 1 July March 2003. However, the police countered with an estimate of 270,000 at its peak.

Other than marching, there have been more than a dozen ships carrying banners with slogans supporting the bill cruising in Victoria Harbour.

Night violent clashes

The protest during night with police in standby.

Hundreds of protesters camped out in front of the government headquarters well into the night, with more joining them in response to calls from Demosisto and pro-independence activists. The Civil Human Rights Front officially called an end to the march at 10 pm, however, around 100 protesters remained at the Civic Square.

Pro-independence groups, Student Localism and the Students Independent Union, calls for protesters to stay after the day march and storm the legislature council. Some protesters calls for street occupations to show a stronger message, while some insisted of a peaceful protest. Still, around 500 people occupied Harcourt Road and Lung Wo Road, while police urged protesters to leave.

A stand-off with police around midnight descended into chaos after the Hong Kong government issued a press statement insisting on resuming the bill reading, a stance unchanged from before the protests. Protesters in Civic Square, most of them wearing face masks, threw bottles and metal barriers at the police, while the police tried to drive them away with batons and pepper spray. Anti-riot officers arrived after the chaos started, and warned protesters that they will "command appropriate force".

Protesters in Harcourt Road and Lung Wo Road, in the same time, moved away the metal barricades by the police with numerous shouting. They then protested and chanted in Gloucester Road. SCMP commented the night protest as "the scene of bigger clashes during the 2014 Occupy movement for greater democracy". The protest ended at around 3 am, with several injured police officers and protesters. 358 protesters were arrested, with more than 80% are younger than 25.

Protests in other cities

At least 29 rallies were held in 12 countries with protesters taking to the streets in cities around the world with significant Hong Kong diaspora, including about 4,000 in London, about 3,000 in Sydney, and further rallies in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, Berlin, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane and Taipei. As one of the biggest overseas protests, hundreds of demonstrators mostly made up of Hong Kong immigrants filled the street outside the Chinese consulate-general in Vancouver with yellow umbrellas and chants against the extradition law. More than 60 people gathered outside the White House in Washington to protest against the bill.

Reaction

HKSAR Government

Chief Executive Carrie Lam at the press conference with Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng and Secretary for Security John Lee one day after the massive protest on 10 June.

Carrie Lam declined to answer questions at a public appearance in Ocean Park on 9 June afternoon. At 11 pm, the government issued a press statement, saying that it "acknowledge[s] and respect[s] that people have different views on a wide range of issues", but insisted the second reading debate on the bill would resume on 12 June. Following the 10 June violent clashes, Lam spoke in the next morning along with Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng and Secretary for Security John Lee, admitting that the size of the rally showed there were "clearly still concerns" over the bill but refused to withdraw it.

Mainland Chinese (PRC) authorities

After the protest, the Beijing government blamed "outside interference" and voiced its support to the Hong Kong administration. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang accused opponents of the proposed legislation of "collusion with the West". State-run media such as China Daily cited more than 700,000 people backing the legislation through an online petition, "countering a protest by about 240,000 people" while the Global Times dismissed the mass demonstration on 9 June, stating that "some international forces have significantly strengthened their interaction with the Hong Kong opposition in recent months".

The protests were mostly censored from Mainland Chinese social media, such as Weibo. Keyword searches of "Hong Kong," “HK" and "extradition bill" leads to other official news and entertainment news. Accounts that posted content regarding the protest are also blocked.

Taiwan (ROC) authorities

President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen tweeted that "We stand with all freedom-loving people of #HongKong. In their faces, we see the longing for freedom, & are reminded that #Taiwan's hard-earned democracy must be guarded & renewed by every generation. As long as I’m President, "one country, two systems" will never be an option."

United States authorities

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus voiced support to the 9 June protesters, saying that "the peaceful demonstration of hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers yesterday clearly shows the public's opposition to the proposed amendments." Ortagus also called on the Hong Kong government to ensure that "any amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance should be pursued with great care."

12 June: Strikes and sit-ins

Two days after the 9 June protest and the announcement from the government that the bill will continue its reading, multiple protests has been launched. Various trade unions, businesses and schools vowed to stage protests. Sit-ins in the government headquarters were also planned.

See also

• Causeway Bay Books disappearances
• Human rights in China
• 2019 in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong protests
  • 2010 Marches for Universal Suffrage
  • 2014 Hong Kong protests
  • 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest
  • Umbrella Movement