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Protests erupt in Hong-Kong Monday on handover anniversary

In commemoration of Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators marched in peaceful protest on Monday. But a smaller group of activists, armed with “metal bars and makeshift battering rams,” demonstrated unpeaceful and confrontational protests when they “broke into the legislature, smashed glass walls and spray-painted slogans in the inner chamber” (New York Times, 2019). ~

These protests are in response to the lingering unrest between the citizens of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong government and their police. According to The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, Protesters claim their demonstrations are working towards formally throwing out the indefinitely suspended extradition bill, a bill that would allow suspects to be sent back to mainland China to face trial. Protesters are also calling for the official resignation of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, as well as calling for police to answer to “violently dispersing a demonstration on June 12” (The Wall Street Journal, 2019). ~

Monday’s protest is the third protest to occur in Hong Kong since the proposed extradition legislation last month significantly increased fears of lessening the freedoms of Hong Kong citizens in the territory, a territory which was returned to China on July 1, 1997. ~

The unpeaceful protests at the legislature divided protesters. According to the New York Times, many protesters denounced the unpeaceful protesters, but others responded with less criticism, stating that their anger was understandable and justified. Many protesters also argued that “nonviolence had failed and that a more confrontational approach was necessary to protect Hong Kong’s freedoms” (The New York Times, 2019). ~

This is Fact Based America – WE have the FACTS, YOU have the OPINIONS. What do you think of the protests in Hong Kong? Do you think the unpeaceful protests at the legislature was justified?

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