We have a legal obligation to Hong Kong that we cannot ignore

The sight of a million people marching down Hong Kong’s streets on Sunday was a remarkable spectacle. Perhaps even more incredible was the fact that it was paralleled by a further 29 rallies held in 12 countries across the world including the cities of London, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Sydney and Taipei.

Predictably, Chinese state media accused “foreign forces” of being behind the event, but it was clear that with more than a seventh of the city’s total population on the streets, Beijing’s claim to speak for all Chinese rang hollow. While the protest was nominally motivated by new legislation that would allow extradition between the city and mainland China, it is really about the incremental dismantling of Hong Kong’s rule of law.

For many of those on the march, the timing of the bill is highly symbolic. Last week marked the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, when Beijing’s crackdown killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Chinese citizens who wished for political rights. This year is also the 60th anniversary of the Great Leap Forward when Mao Zedong’s disastrous agricultural policies cost tens of millions of lives.