Two Years Ago Today

A sea of white two years ago, 1 million protest extradition bill

 

It's hard to believe it was two years ago that the first mass protest against the now-withdrawn extradition bill was held. One million people came out dressed in white t-shirts and tops to symbolize light.

It was the first massive demonstration since 2003, when 500,000 protested against Article 23 security law which was soon shelved by then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. 

Lam did not back down as expected

But this time Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor stood her ground.

At 11pm on June 9, 2019, the government issued a press release, saying that while it respected people's rights and freedoms to express their opinions about about the issue, the second reading of the bill would be held three days later.

So that escalated to June 12, 2019, when a general strike was called that day and some people began occupying Tamar Park, where the Legislative Council and government headquarters are.

And it led to the June 16 march with a staggering 2 million people turning out in the streets of Hong Kong to protest, and there were demonstrations every weekend after that, escalating into skirmishes with police that included tear gas, water cannons, live ammunition, and a tense standoff in two university campuses.

How things have have changed so much since then. June 9, 2019 seems so long ago.

Chan (left) was released October 2019

Even the murder in Taiwan that precipitated the proposal of the extradition bill hasn't been resolved; the murder suspect Chan Tong-kai is still living in relative freedom under the care of Reverend Peter Koon Ho-ming, and still has yet to turn himself in to Taiwanese authorities where there is bureaucratic red tape before he can enter to face murder charges.

Two years later Hong Kong has completely changed, mostly in part of the national security law that was implemented almost a year ago and over 10,000 have been arrested, including so many lawmakers, politicians, and activists. 

Who knew this would happen? And during a pandemic?

When 1 million people came out to march on June 9, it was expected that Lam would back down or at least reconsider the extradition bill. 

But she didn't and now here we are, Hong Kong has changed so much that people are leaving for places like the UK, Canada and Australia. 

Many people in this picture are in jail now

And now with the authorities desperate for people to get vaccinated so that Hong Kong can lift its border restrictions with China, some people refuse outright because they don't trust the government at all, thanks to how it handled the 2019 protests.

So many things are happening because of what conspired two years ago.

Who can forget?