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On Sept. 26, 2014, the Hong Kong police confronted a group of mostly young people who had gathered at a government complex to demand greater citizen input in elections than Beijing would allow. The police arrested dozens of protesters. But rather than curb the demonstrations, the authorities’ decision to use pepper spray and, on Sept. 28, tear gas inspired thousands more people to take to the streets.

The campaign became known as the Umbrella Revolution or Umbrella Movement, referring to the shield of choice used to fend off police pepper spray.

For weeks after, protesters occupied key intersections on Hong Kong’s roads, provoking widespread debates about their goals and whether such dramatic civil disobedience had any hope of achieving them. At one point thugs attacked a protest encampment in the Mong Kok district, but like the police efforts to remove protesters, the assault only swelled support for them.

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It was only in December, after numerous standoffs and a succession of court orders demanding that the protesters cede the spaces they held, that the occupation drew to a close.

A year later, the people of Hong Kong — a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula — are still debating the protests that roiled this city. Here’s a look at what’s changed since the movement and what hasn’t:

POLITICS

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The key demands of the protesters were for the Chinese government to revise its plan for future elections in Hong Kong and for the city’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, to step down. They lost on both counts.

Beijing’s plan for the election of the next chief executive in 2017 permitted a direct popular vote, but it would have left nominations in the hands of a 1,200-member pro-establishment committee. Protesters said that framework offered little meaningful improvement over the existing system, in which the committee itself chooses the chief executive. Worse yet, they said, Beijing’s plan would bestow false legitimacy on the elected chief executive and make future changes to the election system unlikely.

Pro-democracy lawmakers agreed and defeated the election package in a June vote. That means that the next chief executive will be chosen by the same committee, and the prospect for future changes to election rules is uncertain.

Mr. Leung survived the protests, albeit with his popularity battered. He has not ruled out seeking re-election in 2017 to another five-year term.

ECONOMY

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Dire predictions were made about the potential for severe economic harm as a result of the protests. The protest encampments in the areas of Admiralty, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay did cause transportation disruptions, blocking bus and tram routes and slowing car traffic on some roads. Some shops at the protest sites did experience closures and reduced customer traffic; particularly affected were jewelry stores and drugstores in Mong Kok that catered to mainland Chinese tourists.

The overall effect on growth and the business environment was muted. The World Bank said last October that Hong Kong was the third-easiest place in the world to do business, and that the protests had not affected key components of that rating, such as transparency, a lack of red tape or evenhanded enforcement.

In November, the Hong Kong government lowered its growth forecast for gross domestic product to 2.2 percent from 2.3 percent, citing the impact of the protests. John Tsang, the city’s financial secretary, warned that the growth rate could drop even further because of the unrest. But in February, the government announced that the economy had expanded by 2.3 percent in 2014.



PROTESTS

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The street occupations ended in December with the dismantling of protest camps in Admiralty and Causeway Bay. But the protests did not stop. A separate movement made up of more radical protesters has confronted people from mainland China flocking to Hong Kong to buy goods. The protesters say that mainland buyers have upended Hong Kong commerce by driving out shops catering to locals and setting off a boom of stores selling jewelry, pharmaceuticals and infant formula — items that are cheaper in Hong Kong than on the mainland and less likely to be fake.

The Occupy movement itself didn’t vanish, either, with tents popping up on sidewalks around the main government compound ahead of the six-month anniversary in March before they were removed in June.

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And on Sept. 20 a banner that read “I want genuine universal suffrage” — a main slogan of the Occupy protests — appeared at the former sit-in site in Admiralty, before it was removed by the authorities.

LEGAL ACTION

The Hong Kong authorities called the protests unlawful and hundreds of protesters were arrested during the 11-week confrontation, including more than a hundred in the final clearance of the main encampment in Admiralty.

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​In August, student protest leaders were charged for their roles in a gathering that set off the occupation. Alex Chow, a former leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, was charged with participating in an unlawful assembly. Nathan Law, the federation’s current leader, was charged with inciting others to join an unlawful assembly. Joshua Wong, co-founder of the activist group Scholarism, was charged with both offenses. Their trials are set for Oct. 30.

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Three founders of the Occupy Central campaign for universal suffrage in the 2017 election — Benny Tai, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong; Chan Kin-man, a sociology professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Chu Yiu-ming, a Baptist minister — turned themselves in to the police in December. They have not been charged with any offense.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government has been under pressure to prosecute some of its own. During the third week of the protests, several police officers were filmed beating Ken Tsang, a protester. More than a month later, seven officers involved in the episode were arrested on suspicion of “assault occasioning actual bodily harm.” Almost a year later, they have yet to be formally charged. Mr. Tsang has said he wants to bring his case to the United Nations during a session on torture in November and institute a private prosecution against the police officers. ​

WHAT NEXT?





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Pro-democracy parties and student and civil society groups are planning marches and seminars this weekend outside the main government complex in Admiralty. That will be followed by a 15-minute silent remembrance beginning at 5:58 p.m. Monday, the anniversary of the moment the first tear gas canisters were fired. They say there are no plans to stage another occupation. However, Tam Tak-chi, a member of the firebrand People Power political party, has called for 1,000 supporters to stage an 87-minute occupation nearby.

Mr. Wong, the student leader, said in an interview that he had become convinced that civil disobedience such as the street occupations “simply didn’t work.” He said his long-term goal was a referendum on Hong Kong’s political status after 2047, when the “one country, two systems” framework created for the territory’s return to Chinese control will expire. Such a vote, which he said could be held in 2030, could allow Hong Kong residents to express their preference for a continuation of the current system, the adoption of the mainland Chinese political system or independence.

As for his own preference, Mr. Wong said, “If Hong Kong can enjoy the promised autonomy and democracy under Chinese rule, we wouldn’t need independence.”

He plans to take part in the anniversary events on Monday, where he said he would focus not on the past but on the future of Hong Kong’s democracy movement.

“It’s not a commemoration. We didn’t win and there’s nothing to mourn,” Mr. Wong said. “What’s important is that we learn from the past how to better move forward.”

Follow Austin Ramzy on Twitter @austinramzy and Alan Wong @alanwongw.