Hong Kong has recently been going through protests because of the recent extradition bill proposed by the Hong Kong government. The extradition bill is when a person commits a crime in one country and flees to another country and then the country in which the crime was committed requests the person back for trial.

The bill has raised concerns because it can make Hong Kong citizens and visitors under mainland China’s jurisdiction. This has the citizens worried because it could undermine the current system of “same country but different systems” that Hong Kong and China currently have. The citizens of Hong Kong feel their civil liberties will be taken away by the authorities from Beijing.

The Civil Human Rights Front, a pro-democratic organization, arranged a protest march on March 31 and April 28, 2019. Police estimated around 23,000 protesters but the organization claimed that they had around 130,000 people participating. The secretary of security announced that there would be a second reading of the extradition bill on June 12, 2019.

The determination of the protesters in getting the bill passed attracted a lot of media attention. This media attention made the civil human rights front launch a third protest from Victoria Park to the legislative council on  June 9, 2019. It was the largest protest ever held in Hong Kong’s history. The CHRF claimed that there were 1.03 million people. The police forced them to retreat. On June 12, a general strike happened and riot police showed up and they used excessive force.  For example, they used tear gas on peaceful protesters and they used batons. This is the first case of Hong Kong police violence.

On August 9, one of the city’s biggest strikes took place.  Over 350,000 people participated and over 200 flights were cancelled. People couldn’t go to work because the protesters were blocking the streets. The police had to use over 800 canisters of tear gas to disperse the protesters which is the most tear gas Hong Kong has ever used. On August 11, two protests occurred, one in Sham Shui Po and one in the Eastern District. During the protest, the police ruptured the right eye of a female first aid responder using bean bag rounds. They also used tear gas indoors while undercover cops were arresting people, and they fired pepper balls at a close range.

On August 24, another protest happened but it was violent. Protesters were throwing bricks and gasoline bombs. Police responded back by using tear gas and water cannon trucks. Then six police officers fired live shots in the air as warning shots. They also kicked a man who was on his knees  who was begging the police officers not to shoot. On September 2, 2019 one of the final rallies was held and one person was unconscious from the police action. On September 4, the chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, decided to withdraw the extradition bill.