Produced in collaboration with SBS Chinese
TRANSCRIPT
Tens of thousands occupied the streets of Hong Kong in 2014, protesting Beijing’s plan to restrict elections and using umbrellas to shield themselves from tear gas deployed by police.
Alex Chow was a student in Hong Kong at the time and the former secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, known as one of the leaders of the Umbrella movement.
“The motivation was very straightforward for me as a college student at the time, I was simply thinking about, well, it is basic human rights. It is basic political rights.”
He was imprisoned for unlawful assembly.
Ten years on, from exile in the US, Chow says the fight for democracy is not over.
“The way we describe Hong Kongers is like diaspora, exile, homeless people, stateless people. I really hope that Hong Kongers stay resilient, stay committed.”
In a statement to SBS Cantonese, The Hong Kong government said the protests had "extensive, serious and substantial impacts on transportation, emergency rescue, government operations, residents’ daily lives, and various economic activities... and it " condemns anyone who continues to glorify and honour these irresponsible and illegal behaviours."
Brendan Clift, a lecturer at The University of Melbourne’s Law School was tutoring in Hong Kong in 2014 .
“Hong Kong has a semblance of democracy, but we would call it fake democracy. It has a legislative council, a parliament, it has 90 seats, but only 20 of those seats are up for direct election by the people. And the candidates for those seats are vetted in advance by the Hong Kong government.”
While the Umbrella movement did not achieve its goal, many say it inspired a new wave of protests in 2019 to 2020 against a proposed extradition bill to mainland China.
Their protests met with sweeping National Security Laws first imposed by Beijing, and later by Hong Kong - and thousands of arrests.
This is Brendan Clift again:
“Really there is no material distinction between those governments anymore. It's very sad. But Hong Kong has lost that uniqueness that one country two systems was supposed to protect.”
Media mogul and pro-democracy figure Jimmy Lai is among those facing life in prison under China's crackdown.
A United Nations report last week raising concerns for Mr Lai's son and legal team - who have been subject to ongoing reprisals and harassment, including death and rape threats, by known and unknown actors.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, leads Lai's international legal team.
“We've been subjected to threats in state run media. I've been called an enemy of the people in state run media in formal press releases released by the Hong Kong authorities. They've called us criminal for bringing a human rights case to UN bodies.”
Sebastien Lai says his father has spent years in solitary confinement.
“They're drawing out his trial and it's inhumane, because at almost 77 he's being kept in a cell in solitary confinement for more than 1300 days, and they are slowly but surely killing him.”
According to Jimmy Lai's legal team, they have filed an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture.
