The Hong Kong protests that began in the second half of 2019 captured the world’s attention as demonstrations against an extradition bill grew into a larger civil liberties movement. While protests began as peaceful demonstrations, the disproportionate police force with which the government responded escalated the situation to an international crisis. Kwok Pui-lan and Francis Ching-wah Yip bring together an international cohort to discuss the relation between Christianity and Communism and the neoliberal economy, as well as civil disobedience, religion and social movements, and the roles of the churches in social conflict. This interdisciplinary volume showcases theological reflections by many scholars and activists in Hong Kong.

This book gathers the voices of four local Hong Kong theologians to reflect on the 2014 democracy protests in the city from the perspectives of Catholic social teaching, feminist and queer intersectionality, Protestant liberation, and textual exegesis. The volume also includes an extended primer on Hong Kong politics to aid readers as they reflect on the theology underlying the democracy protests. September 28, 2014 is known as the day that political consciousness in Hong Kong began to shift. As police fired eighty-seven volleys of tear gas at protesters demanding “genuine universal suffrage” in Hong Kong, the movement (termed the “Umbrella Movement”) ignited a polarizing set of debates over civil disobedience, government collusion with private interests, and democracy. The Umbrella Movement was also a theological watershed moment, a time for religious reflection. This book analyzes the role that religion played in shaping the course of this historic movement.

This book shows that Hong Kong’s protests from June to December 2019 originated from not only an attempt to extradite a Hong Kong man involved in a Taiwan murder case, but also China’s effort at extraditing corrupt mainlanders who laundered dirty money in the territory. The mixture of peaceful and violent protests was due to the snowballing effect of protestors-police confrontations, the imbalanced way in which police exercised their power, and protestors’ strategies. The protests triggered the national security concerns of Beijing, which mobilized the People’s Armed Police to Shenzhen as a warning rather than sending them openly to Hong Kong to avoid undermining the image of “one country, two systems.” The entire debate raised the concerns of Washington, Taiwan, and foreign governments, heightening Beijing’s sensitivity. After the bill was withdrawn, the anti-extradition movement has become anti-police and anti-mainland, constantly challenging the legitimacy of the Hong Kong government and Beijing. This is a valuable read for China watchers, political scientists and all those interested in the future of East Asia.

A terrible example of democratic movements: when a fight for democracy is just an excuse for riots and anti-government movements … Hong Kong protest activists have been proactively contacting foreign governments and foreign press, telling them how righteous they are and why their governments are wrong. But why have they not received the majority’s supports from the locals? Award-winning author, Selina Co, is a Hong Kong citizen (dual citizen) and is native in Cantonese (Hong Kong’s spoken language) and fluent in English and Mandarin. Selina has interviewed Hongkongers from all walks of life and translated protest activists’ videos, statistics, local newspapers and verified reports to English, showing protest activists’ misconducts, misleading actions, lies, misbehaviours and how undemocratic protest leaders have been. Sources are presented to you whereas possible so that you can verify them. Most of these have never been presented to foreign governments or foreign press. Being currently in Australia, Selina can speak freely and present facts, without interference by China or by protesters and have no conflict of interests from either side. This book also tells you about its history and problems the people face, from the society before the riots, how the society was like after it returned to China, back to the time when it was a British colony in the 1990s and how it was colonised in 1841. We will also look into accusations against the Hong Kong police in 2019-20 political unrest. We will also discuss different aspects of Hong Kong politics, such as elections of the Chief Executive and members of the legislative council, pro-protest politicians and pro-government politicians, accusations against the governments and self-proclaimed pro-democracy leader Joshua Wong and other protest leaders and why independence would bring more harms than benefits to the people. Perhaps, you will find that this historical ‘democratic movement’ is just a scam … P.S. This book has nothing to do with cybercrime. Selina only happens to be a cybercrime detective, graduated from a top university there. ** This book is written for the best interest of the people. It has no intention to support or oppose Communist China. From the Author The lady in the front cover is the iconic Goddess of Democracy, frequently used in pro-democratic movements in the region, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. Her tears of blood here represent that her values and righteous are distorted and misused. From the Inside Flap After 2047, Hong Kong will follow Communist China, as the Sino-British Joint Declaration will no longer be in effect. Aren't these rioters too young to be policemen? Also, policemen must look at least slightly muscular because they are physically trained. What do you say? This had made multiple headlines in many Hong Kong local newspapers; but for the foreign press, only BBC had briefly reported this instance as a side story, not even mentioned she called her own employer and government 'Re-f***ing' of CH-INA in her oath as per her video

Since 2003, Hong Kong has witnessed a series of large-scale protests which have constituted the core of a reinvigorated pro-democracy movement. What drove tens of thousands of citizens to the street on a yearly basis to protest? What were the social and organizational bases of the protest movement? How did media and public discourses affect the protests’ formation and mobilization? How did the protesters understand their own actions and the political environment? This book tackles such questions by using a wide range of methods, including population and protest onsite surveys, media content analysis, and in-depth interviews with activists, politicians, and protest participants. It provides an account of the "self-mobilization processes" behind the historic July 1, 2003 protest, and how the protest kick-started new political dynamics and discursive contestations in the public arena which not only turned a single protest into a series of collective actions constituting a movement, but also continually shaped the movement’s characteristics and influence. The book is highly pertinent to readers interested in political development in Hong Kong, and as a case study on "the power of critical events," the book also has broad implications on the study of both media politics and social movements in general.

The Occupy movement in Hong Kong was sustained for about 80 days because of government tolerance, the presence of determined participants, and a weak leadership. The government tolerated the occupation because its initial use of force, in particular teargas, was counterproductive and provoked large-scale participation. Unlike other social movements, such as the 1989 Tiananmen movement, the Occupy movement reached its peak of participation at the very beginning, making it difficult to sustain the momentum. The presence of determined participants who chose to stay until the government responded was crucial to the sustaining of the movement. These self-selected participants were caught in a dilemma between fruitless occupation and reluctance to retreat without a success. The movement lasted also because the weak leadership was unable to force the government to concede or devise approaches for making a "graceful exit." Consequently, site clearance became the common choice of both the government and the protestors. This book develops a new framework to explain the sustaining of decentralized protest in the absence of strong movement organizations and leadership. Sustained protests are worth research because they not only reveal the broad social context in which the protests arise and persist but also point out the dynamics of the escalation or the decline of the protests. In addition, sustained protest may not only lead to more dramatic action, but they also result in the diffusion of protests or lead to significant policy changes.

This book examines the government of Hong Kong since its handover to China in 1997, arguing that Hong Kong has been poorly governed and that this is what lies behind regular mass protests since 2003. It considers the different aspects of these government problems, and assesses prospects for the future.