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Since June 2019, Hong Kong citizens have regularly taken to the streets to protest against China's takeover of power in their city. It all started when the government announced the Extradition Law, which allows suspected criminals to be extradited to China. The protests started peacefully but as time went by, police and activists became more and more violent.
9th of June 2019
12th June 2019
After the first protests were peaceful, violence escalated for the first time on June 12th. When a small group of young demonstrators threw bricks and water bottles at police officers, the Hong Kong police used tear gas and rubber bullets for the first time in decades.
16th June 2019
According to the organizers, around two million people marched through Hong Kong's streets that day to demonstrate against the Extradition-Bill. The fact that the government did not change their plans despite the huge turnout marked a turning point for many Hong Kong citizens.
1st July 2019
After an hour-long siege, hundreds of demonstrators stormed the Hong Kong Parliament. Inside, the protesters spray-painted defiant messages on the walls and tore down portraits of city leaders. The first of july is the anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China (1997).
21st July 2019
After tens of thousands had peacefully demonstrated against the extradition law during the day, masked men brutally attacked the demonstrators with batons in the evening. Forty-five people had to be hospitalized. After this outbreak of violence, many Hongkongers’ attitude toward the police changed, who reached the scene very late.
23rd of August 2019
Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers formed a human chain along both sides of the port to show solidarity with the democracy movement. Many of them shone a light with their cell phone flashlights. The action was inspired by the "Baltic Way". In 1989 the inhabitants of the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formed a chain across their countries to protest against the Soviet occupation.
31st August 2019
The police stormed a subway train at Prince Edward Station and beat up people dressed in black for no reason. Black is the colour of the demonstrators. The images of faces covered in blood went around the world.
17th-29th November
During the nearly two- week siege of the polytechnic university the protest-movement turned into a battleground. The young students from the pro-democracy movement entrenched themselves on the campus and fought against the police with catapults and Molotov cocktails.
