After six months and a siege, Hong Kong鈥檚 front line takes stock
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Ann Scott Tyson Staff writer
| Hong Kong
With an impish smile and mop-top haircut, the college sophomore pulls up a chair at a backstreet cafe, his boyish looks and mild manners belying his identity as a frontline Hong Kong protester.
Before mass pro-democracy marches began in Hong Kong in June, the student was immersed in social science classes and campus clubs. Today, he is one of the yongmo 鈥� Cantonese for 鈥渂rave militia鈥澨�� the hardcore protest element that risks the most in head-on clashes with police, battling with Molotov cocktails, bricks, and umbrellas.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a war,鈥� he says, using the pseudonym Steve to protect his identity. Toughened by the conflict, Steve and hundreds of others have been wounded physically听鈥� and mentally 鈥� in their fight for greater democracy and autonomy from China. Consuming most of his time and energy, it鈥檚 become a sometimes surreal struggle that is defining him even as it transforms his home city.
Why We Wrote This
Time will tell if November was a turning point for Hong Kong. But the campus siege has likely left a deep imprint 鈥� nowhere more than in the minds and memories of the young protesters inside.
Six months into Hong Kong鈥檚 pro-democracy campaign, Steve and other activists offer an inside-the-resistance perspective, taking stock of its wins, losses, strengths, and weaknesses after the protests鈥� tensest chapter yet: a 12-day police siege of a university campus, with demonstrators barricaded inside. Overall, a tumultuous November saw two different challenges, they say: a spike in violence and a tactical setback that led to internal dissent, and a citywide election that some analysts believed could take the wind out of the protests. But so far, sizable numbers of Hong Kongers have continued to take to the streets. Convinced of their cause, Steve and others say the movement has resilience, broad public support, and unity 鈥� and won鈥檛 let up.
鈥淲e cannot lose, and we have nothing to lose鈥� but everything to gain, says Steve. 鈥淲e have fantasies about building a new Hong Kong 鈥� where everyone has a deeply rooted faith in their rights and democracy鈥� and so will defend them against government encroachment, he says.
鈥淣ever seemed to stop鈥�
Last month, the leaderless, nimble movement with the mantra 鈥渂e water鈥� made a costly, if inadvertent, misstep, Steve says. After calling for a general strike, protesters decided to block two main roads to give workers an excuse to stay home. They set up continuous roadblocks on the highway linking the New Territories bordering mainland China to the Kowloon Peninsula, and the cross-harbor tunnel connecting Kowloon and Hong Kong island 鈥� each located near a different university. But when protesters used the universities as staging bases, they lost their critical mobility, giving police an opportunity to encircle their fixed position and strike them hard.
Steve was one of hundreds of protesters waging an all-day battle against police from inside The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on Nov. 17. Protesters had a steady flow of supplies, both from inside the school and from thousands of ordinary people who brought them food, clothing, tools, and fuel for making Molotov cocktails.
The next day, Nov. 18, Steve says, he joined three attempts to break out of the police blockade 鈥� only to be pushed back each time. 鈥淭hey shot so much tear gas, it was so condensed you could basically see nothing,鈥� he says.
Steve was already weak and in significant pain, having been shot twice in the leg with rubber bullets days before, as he took part in a roadblock to divert police from another campus, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 鈥� a strategy protesters call hoi faa, or 鈥渂looming flower.鈥�
鈥淭he friend next to me only had a simple surgical mask,鈥� he says.听鈥淗e was unable to breathe鈥� and barely made it onto the campus.
鈥淭he guy next to him didn鈥檛 make it and fell down the stairs,鈥� and was caught by police, he adds.
In all police fired more than 1,000 cans of tear gas and rubber bullets in the battle that day, saying they 鈥渦sed minimum necessary force to disperse protestors.鈥� Protesters hurled bricks and firebombs and shot arrows at the police.
鈥淭he gunshots never seemed to stop,鈥� says another protester, part of a scout team, who gave her name as Ms. Z. 鈥淚 was so panicked and afraid.鈥�
Later that day, Steve found a secret route out through a side building and scrambled up a hillside to a highway. There he was picked up by a 鈥減arent car,鈥� one of a fleet of private vehicles driven by supporters who circulate around hot spots and help protesters escape. 鈥淧olice were already shooting tear gas at the car. I believe I鈥檓 one of the last few people to get out that way,鈥� he says.
Police maintained the siege of the university for nearly two weeks, a low point in the movement for Steve. 鈥淧olyU was hell,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 the lucky one who got out,鈥� he says, saying he鈥檚 haunted by survivor鈥檚 guilt over those who were arrested. 鈥淲e lost many frontline protesters.鈥� 听
More than 1,000 suspected protesters were detained at the university, raising the total arrested in connection with the demonstrations since June to more than 5,800. Police designated everyone inside the school as suspected rioters 鈥� meaning they could face charges that carry a 10-year jail term.
Two battlefronts
Protesters trapped inside 鈥� even those who escaped 鈥� say they were traumatized by the ordeal. Many felt they were defending their school against police. 鈥淓very night, I get nightmares about the experiences in PolyU,鈥� says Ms. Z. 鈥淎lthough I escaped from there, I feel like I cannot get away from the siege. ... I will never forget how desperate it was.鈥澨�
The police siege was unjustified and 鈥渉as already resulted in very traumatic psychological problems,鈥� says the Rev. Common Chan of Sen Lok 海角大神 Church, who searched for protesters hiding on campus. His church is offering counseling to the protesters, who were left isolated, he says, after police detained dozens of medics.
Steve says the tactical defeat at PolyU caused some discord within the movement, but fueled even more anger at the police. 鈥淧eople were depressed due to the PolyU failure, but we still didn鈥檛 lose the battle, because the government is doing things that can鈥檛 be forgiven,鈥� he says.
After the setback at PolyU, protesters strategically stood down, for the first weekend in months, to allow Hong Kong鈥檚 local elections to unfold peacefully on Nov. 24. The election produced a landslide victory for pro-democracy candidates, as the 鈥渟ilent majority鈥� claimed by the pro-Beijing establishment weighed in instead on the side of the protesters. The activists received a major boost of international support on Nov. 27 when the United States enacted a law supporting democracy and human rights in Hong Kong.
Some analysts believed the local elections could redirect the movement toward institutions and away from street protests. But despite a huge win for the pro-democracy camp, Hong Kong鈥檚 Chief Executive Carrie Lam has not budged on the key remaining protester demands: an independent investigation of police conduct; amnesty for protesters, and dropping their designation as 鈥渞ioters鈥�; and universal suffrage to elect Hong Kong鈥檚 chief executive and all its legislators. Mrs. Lam did meet a major demand in October, by withdrawing the proposed China extradition bill that sparked Hong Kong鈥檚 protests last spring.
Instead, Steve says the protesters and the elected pro-democracy officials will push a shared agenda through different channels. 鈥淲e have divided into two sections, the battle inside the institutions, and the battle outside the institutions,鈥� Steve says. 鈥淏oth sections support each other and are not in conflict.鈥�
With large and small protests being staged in Hong Kong almost every day, Steve and the other 鈥渂rave militia鈥� are turning out in force. 鈥淚 am actually not brave at all,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut 鈥� if I do nothing, who will? If we don鈥檛 sacrifice, then what about the people who died?鈥� he asks. 鈥淭his helps us keep going, toward the winning day.鈥�
