This oppressive environment has become worse because of government-imposed pandemic restrictions, which ban all gatherings, political or otherwise. Yet Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement is very much alive. It has just adopted more creative and subtle ways to circumvent Beijing’s shifting standards in defining breaches of the national security law.
The protesters’ motto, “Be Water,” reflects a tenacious and flexible strategy that allows them to exert social pressure, even when it’s all but impossible to stage in-person demonstrations. One expression of this approach is the “yellow economic circle,” a system through which pro-democracy supporters choose to patronize exclusively pro-democracy businesses and to boycott those that support the police and are affiliated with China’s Communist Party.
The ultimate goal of our sacrifice is clear: We yearn for a Hong Kong that’s genuinely ruled and run by Hong Kongers, free from Chinese intervention. This “high degree of autonomy” was precisely the promise Beijing made in 1984 with the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which set the terms for the 1997 handover.
Given its vibrant civil society, long history of direct elections — even though the legislature isn’t itself fully democratic — and cosmopolitanism, Hong Kong is more than capable of self-governance. In fact, many iconic figures in the pro-democracy movement have served as legislators. And their mandate is indisputable: The opposition camp has almost always won a majority of votes for directly elected seats.
The goal of the movement isn’t to destroy the city; rather, it’s to preserve our traditions and unique way of life in the face of Chinese expansionism. Around the world, those in favor of “law and order” or maintaining the status quo tend to correlate protests and uprisings with destruction and chaos. Contrary to what they believe, however, Hong Kong’s movement more than passes the test for good governance and it has, time and again, demonstrated unity, mobility, effectiveness and the ability to make progress.
Like many other protest movements, ours is built on the empathy we have for one another. Those who are in power and obsessed with power can never comprehend that.
The values we uphold — freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law among them — are universal. They have been the cornerstones of Hong Kong’s success in the past, enabling its rise to the status of global city. But as the local government’s credibility and legitimacy plummet to a low point, nothing short of fundamental and structural reform can save it. The opposition doesn’t lack the ability to rule, only an opportunity.
Nathan Law Kwun Chung is a pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong and was the city’s youngest-ever elected legislator.