The Rebel Alliance of Hong Kong by Guy Coker

Hong Kong has endured its fair share of throes of civil unrest in recent months, considered by China to be the “worst crisis” since the end of British rule in the country. Honestly, the spat between the Chinese administration and the Hong Kong citizenry over a prisoner extradition bill has evolved far beyond its original goal.

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters now focus less on the prisoners and more on the principles behind the legislation. What is at stake for them is nothing less than freedom, defined by the semi- autonomy their nation was granted from China in 1997 – uniquely existing as “one country, two systems”.

However, in recent years, Hong Kong feel that China is trying to tighten its grip on the city, however lawfully questionable. China rejected giving Hong Kong adults the right to vote for their head of government, manipulating elections so that Hong Kong’s leaders are China’s loyalists.

Look to 2014, when an official statement from Beijing provocatively said that it had comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong, and its citizens are “confused or lopsided” in the understanding of their own country’s rule of law. It’s almost as if China’s babying Hong Kong as a strict parent.

These actions are perceived to be Beijing attempting to undermine the Hong Kong Basic Law, Hong Kong’s accepted constitution, and intimidate Hong Kong into line with the rest of China. Then today it is the controversial prisoner extradition bill.

This bill was to allow suspects from the island to be extradited to mainland China, it was perceived by Hong Kong to practically violate the city’s granted autonomy from Chinese laws. Beginning in June, the initial response by the Hong Kong public were your standard methods of nonviolent protest. This mainly involved marches and worker strikes; designed to draw China’s attention. Under strong pressure from a million protesters, Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam finally issued an apology and a suspension of the bill. However, this was not enough. Considering the suspended law was still under review by the distrusted government at the time, it remained a threat in the eyes of Hong Kongers.

The proposed law was just the beginning.

Conflict just short of civil war has erupted between the two sides in Hong Kong. At the forefront of it is a militia of “Asia’s Finest” against a loosely connected resistance of anti-extradition bill protesters. However, this “leaderless” collective is united by several key demands: the removal of both the bill and leader Carrie Lam but more importantly, overdue democratic freedoms and investigations into the police brutality that demonstrators have suffered.

Are the critics’ claims of constant suppression of Hong Kong’s independence true? Most likely. Historically, China’s relationship with protests hasn’t been a pleasant one – the infamous 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre saw many unarmed protesters – students - gunned down by the country’s military, an event the Chinese government tried very hard to cover up through the powers of censorship.

“Violence begets violence” – Martin Luther King. It is the main reason why the police’s actions during the protests on 12th June are unjustified: too many riot police batons, rubber bullets and even tear gas found their way onto peaceful, unarmed demonstrators. And yet, are Hong Kong’s people supposed to just be bullied into submission? This band of demonstrators is not the Civil Rights Movement.

However, that does not mean I endorse the radical splinter groups like those who had stormed and vandalised Hong Kong’s government building on July 1st. Drawing walled graffiti in Cantonese and English like “Hong Kong is not China” and “murderous regime” isn’t the most peaceful message. Such aggression has and will be matched by armoured riot police.

One thing is guaranteed in any case, when the administration pushes down on the protesters, they can only push back. Only a vicious cycle remains until someone’s terms are met.

Ultimately, as a British citizen, I sympathise with the protesters’ pro-democracy cause. The Basic Law expires in a few decades after its 50-year limit and I’d rather not see Hong Kong lose its independence yet again in a post-colonial period. Democracy and its freedoms are every country’s right.