Hong Kong: City of Protests, City of God? (original) (raw)
Related papers
Panic on Whitfield Road: An Account of a Protest in Post-War Hong Kong
Panic on Whitfield Road: An Account of a Protest in Post-War Hong Kong, 2019
The recent protests in Hong Kong concerning the government’s proposed extradition law were the latest among many that have occurred in the former British colony since the end of World War II. The infamous Red Guard riots of 1967, the annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, and the 2014 Umbrella Movement demonstrations were some of the more memorable. Other long forgotten demonstrations occurred soon after the war and were a direct result of mass movements of people leaving China that spiked Hong Kong’s population to unprecedented levels. The impact of those protests on different communities are now coming to light.
2019 Hong Kong Protests: The Holistic Picture
Much analyses on Hong Kong unrest is predisposed towards liberal democracy espoused by the West. However, every coin has two faces. So, are we assimilating only the unidimensional view propagated by the West and English-language media? This issue-brief provides an alternative holistic perspective.
Social Movements in China and Hong Kong. The Expansion of Protest Space
ICAS Publication Series
The starting point of this book is the acknowledgement that on one side Chinese individuals, freer from the constraints of the State, have to rely on their own efforts for their well-being and, on the other side, in some circumstances, they gather together to defend their interests. The individualisation of society goes hand in hand with the collective movements that emerged as a result of individual wants. There are not only internal factors leading to the emergence of collective forms of action, but also external ones and that’s why the editors have chosen to encompass Hong Kong in their study. The authors argue that protest actions and movement taking place in the Mainland and Hong Kong have enabled both societies to expand their protest spaces. At a theoretical level, these developments lead us to reconceputalise citizenship as practised rather than as given.
Hong Kong's Summer of Uprising: From Anti-Extradition to Anti-Authoritarian Protests
The China Review, 2019
After a period of movement abeyance since the Umbrella Movement, millions of Hong Kong citizens took to the streets in summer 2019 to protest against a proposed extradition bill that would allow the Hong Kong authorities to extradite its citizens to mainland China. Initially calling for the withdrawal of the impending bill, the mass protests soon evolved into a prolonged and city-wide movement targeting police abuse of power and seeking political reforms. Using data collected from onsite surveys along with population survey results, this article offers a rich descriptive account of the origins and characteristics of this momentous movement. We first examine how the protests unexpectedly emerged despite the absence of favorable conditions amidst a declining trend of political efficacy. We then illustrate several core characteristics of the protests through the survey data: first, protesters were motivated by a coherent set of demands that focused on police powers and the unrepresentative political system; second, they are self-mobilized and technologically-enabled, showing strong alignment with the leaderless ethics of the movement; and third, they displayed a tremendous level of solidarity unseen in previous protests, which provided the momentum for escalation and radicalization. Our findings indicate that despite some basic continuities with past trajectories, political activism has undergone a profound evolution under the authoritarian tightening in post-handover Hong Kong.
Why is The Post-colonial Hong Kong Entering the Popularity of Protests?
Since the sovereignty of Hong Kong is returned from the British to China in 1997, there springs up increasing popular discontents as well as social campaigns in Hong Kong. The protest movements have a two-fold rise during 1997 to 2014 as more and more citizens regard protest as a method to make progress of Hong Kong society (“Survey reveals,” 2014). This situation results from the advancement of social media, the dissatisfaction with controversial policies, and standstill of political development.
Resonance - A Theological Journal, 2018
This paper argue that Christian churches should educate their congregants on sociopolitical issues, so that both the church and individual congregants can speak to the world prophetically, as a part of Jesus’ teaching in caring for the weak. Civil disobedience should not be the main means for the church to express social concerns. Rather, a godly life that witnesses Jesus as Lord should be how Christians exert their power to effect changes in society. This witness cannot be short-term, like civil disobedience is so often; it must be sustained and life-long.
CONFLICTING PERSPECTIVES ON HONG KONG'S 2019 PROTESTS
CONFLICTING PERSPECTIVES ON HONG KONG'S 2019 PROTESTS, 2020
The different system of Hong Kong within China came under increasing international scrutiny following the massive protests, which started in June 2019. The diverging perspectives on the scale and purpose of the protests emerged as another area of conflict between the Chinese and the Western media. Initially, the protests started against the Chief Executive's move on the extradition bill, which the people of Hong Kong feared would be used against the dissidents. The protests rocked the city with growing clashes and violence between the protesters and Hong Kong police. International media reported excessive use of force against protesters by the Hong Kong government on the instructions of Beijing. However, mainland China rejected the claims of excessive use of force as well as the strength of the protests in Hong Kong. China attempted to project them as dissent fomented by the rival countries targeted at China's unprecedented rise. The disturbing images of the protests shown by international media with people in hundreds of thousands on the streets with placards presented a different view. This paper focuses on the dichotomy in the perspectives on Hong Kong's protests in light of the ongoing power competition and propaganda war between
On the Necessity of Ritual Sensibility in Public Protest: A Hong Kong Perspective
Religions, 2021
In Hong Kong, the efficacy of ritualized protest has become an issue of hot debate in recent years. Whereas ritualized protest is a long-term political practice in the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement that has considerable influence, skepticism about it has grown remarkably within the radical faction of the movement. Against this background, this paper aims to offer a theoretical reflection on the role of ritualized protest in the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. It will take an auto-ethnographic approach to reflect on the material culture of Hong Kong public protests and engage in the recent controversy over ritualized protest. This study shows that although ritualized protest can hardly achieve actual political changes in the short run, ritual sensibility is essential to the promulgation and the passing-on of social and political values. This applies not only to ritualized protests that are largely peaceful, rational, and non-violent but also to militant protests that are open to the use of violence. This emphasis on the underlying importance of ritual sensibility invites both the liberal democratic and the radical factions to introspect whether their own political praxes have portents of formalization and ossification.
A Tough Challenge For Beijing: Hong Kong Demonstrations
Hong Kong Demonstrations, 2019
Harsh demonstrations in the following months in Hong Kong are still indicating high stakes for Beijing administration. Despite Hong Kong Government's withdrawal of extradition bill, massive protests has been taking place in the streets of the city. On the other hand, there are numerous national and international reflections of the protests and possible intervention of China toward Hong Kong and the consequences should be taken in the hand comprehensively.