by Apurva Mahajan ‘22

In February of this year, Hong Kong proposed and passed an extradition bill, otherwise known as the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Bill, which would allow the government to consider sending a criminal suspect from another country back to Hong Kong to face a trial there, even if there wasn’t an extradition treaty with that country. 

People are protesting this bill because people would become “subject to arbitrary detention, unfair torture, and torture under China’s judicial system,” said BBC Chinese’s Jeff Li. “No one will be safe, including activists, human rights lawyers, journalists, and social workers,” explained Human Rights Watch’s Sophie Richardson. This bill is restricting the rights and freedoms which should be guaranteed to the people living in China, reflecting a larger commentary about the state of democracy in the rest of the world.

After the proposal of the bill, multiple protests began to occur against the Hong Kong government, now going on for over six months. In July, the protesters defaced the parliament building. A month later, hundreds of flights had to be canceled due to protests at airports. The bill was finally revoked in September, but it wasn’t enough for the protesters. The most violent incident occurred on October 1, when a university student was shot with a bullet during a fight where policemen and protesters were using petrol bombs, poles, and other projectiles. To try and stop all of the protests, the government banned face masks, even though activists continuously continued their acts. The protests have gotten exponentially unsafer, with a lawmaker getting stabbed, and another young protester getting shot at close range in other instances. There have been reports of people lying in the streets covered in blood after being attacked, and young people are starting to speak out against the oppressive government.

All the protesters want is their freedom. They just want police brutality to be stopped, amnesty for the protesters who were arrested, and for the protests to not be classified as riots. Before all of these protests, Hong Kong had an autonomous way of running. When the people began to use their voice and went against the government’s cruelty, violence began to occur, making it hazardous to even just walk outside for thousands, if not millions, of people.

 In the United States, people take their freedoms for granted. After all, the freedom to petition against the government is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution under the First Amendment. This leads to Americans to be blind to the conditions people in other countries have to face on a daily basis. The current condition of Hong Kong is absolutely terrifying, and nobody should have to go through what these people are suffering through.

Young people are at the center of this political rebellion, with university students having a major part in the entire process. They are showing how young people have a voice and how impactful it can be when used. The protests already caused the extradition bill to be revoked, and the democratic candidates have won 278 seats in the district council elections. A pro-Beijing lawmaker even admitted, “heaven and earth have been turned upside down.” Gruesome as the events are, teenagers all across the globe should learn they are entitled to fight for their freedoms and protest for a better future that they deserve.