A last minute visa-run out of Vietnam left me smack bang in the middle of Hong Kong’s unfolding political chaos.

During my four-day stint in Asia’s most important IP trading hub, I sailed through thousands of political protesters, chatted with locals, and explored the unique city scape, architecture and environment that serve home to almost 7.5 million people.

My most obvious observation upon leaving?

The youth of Hong Kong are angry, disappointed and dissatisfied by their government’s proposal of the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill.

They feel that their Chief Executive Carrie Lam has failed to look out for the people of Hong Kong. They believe Lam bears a responsibility to listen to the people’s protests and fully commit to withdrawing the bill.

Uneasy and anxious about the future of their country, the youth are determined to ‘free Hong Kong’.

So, what’s the bill and when did this start?

In February 2018, Hongkonger Chan Tong-kai murdered his girlfriend whilst on a trip in Taiwan. With no extradition agreement between Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Taiwanese government were unable to extradite Chan for his alleged crime.

In order to send Chan to Taiwan for trial, the Hong Kong government proposed the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019.

The amendment bill was proposed in order to establish a mechanism to legalise fugitive transfers to Taiwan, Macau and Mainland China, which are not currently covered by existing laws.

Yeah, and what’s the problem?

The proposed bill resulted in national widespread outrage, and global critics feared the proposed amendments would catalyse an erosion to Hong Kong’s legal system and jeopardise built-in national safeguards.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council were quick to state that Taiwan would not agree to the proposed extradition laws on the grounds that Taiwanese citizens living in Hong Kong would be at greater risk of extradition to Mainland China. They were also concerned that foreigners passing through the city could be sent to trial in Mainland China, where courts are under strict political Chinese control.

Despite refusal from Taiwan and tremendous public dissent, the Hong Kong government directly tabled the bill before the Legislative Council in early April.

With a shared belief of unjust government policy-making, hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents took to the streets in protest on June 9, calling for Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down.

The protests carried on for countless days, resulting in violent clashes, arrests and public hysteria.

According to Hong Kong protesters, on June 12, police fired more than 150 rounds of tear gas, 20 bean bag rounds, rubber bullets and pepper spray. 79 people were injured, and some lost consciousness due to severe injuries.

What happened next?

On June 15, Lam announced that the proposed bill would be suspended indefinitely. However merely a bill suspension was not definitive enough for fearful Hong Kong activists, and on June 16, nearly two million protesters marched the streets, calling for a full withdrawal of the bill.

Since then, public unrest, protests and (according to Hong Kong protesters) police brutally has ensued.

On July 9, Chief Executive Carrie Lam made another public statement, stating ‘the bill is dead’ and reiterated that the Hong Kong government have no plans to restart the amendment process in Legislative Council.

According to Hong Kong protesters, ‘since June 9, police have abusively made nearly 600 arrests’ and ‘have charged many peaceful protesters for rioting’.

What will satisfy the situation?

I attended two protests held at the Hong Kong International Airport on August 10 and August 14, and after speaking with a protester named Co, it is clear they have five major demands in mind.

“We’ve chosen to move our protests to the airport because we want foreigners to know about what we are fighting here in Hong Kong,” she said.

“We want to get the message out globally and internationally. From the media, the world perceives our protests to be riots and full of violence. Yes this has happened in some cases because of police interference and police brutality, but our protests are peaceful and non violent. “We will not give up and we want the world to know that.”

Co handed me a series of flyers, pamphlets, newsletters and posters that have been constructed by protesters outlining their desires.

The desires are as follows:

Complete withdrawal of the extradition law amendment bill

Full implementation of universal suffrage in the Chief Executive and Legislative Council Elections

Withdrawal of criminal charges against all protesters

Establish an independent investigation into instances of police brutality

Recall the ‘riot’ proclamations of previous protests

Universal suffrage, say what?

According to protesters, the elected Chief Executive of Hong Kong lacks legitimacy due to the absence of a democratic mandate.

Protesters explained to me that currently in Hong Kong, there are 1200 election committee members who represent the voices of the 7 million plus Hong Kong people.

The 1200 committee members get to elect the Chief Executive on behalf of the rest of the nation.

According to the protesters, “the election committee mostly comprises of a highly exclusionary circle, mostly only including pro-Beijing and pro-business interests while neglecting the voice of most Hong Kong people.”

The Hong Kong protesters are calling on a full implementation of universal suffrage in order to enable that all of Hong Kong get a voice when it comes to determining a Chief Executive and Legislative Council.

“High degree of autonomy is always what we want to safeguard. Also it is being promised when the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 under a policy known as ‘one country, two systems’,” – Hong Kong protester. That autonomy is guaranteed until 2047, but the Communist Party and its security apparatus have increasingly encroached on the territory and intervened in internal affairs of Hong Kong.”

To wrap it up

As protests continue to unfold in Hong Kong, I believe it is evident that the passionate voices of Hongkongers will not give up fighting for national freedom without a fair battle.

The proposal of the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill and resulting actions led by police, Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the government were the final feather to an already sinking ship.

This ship has sunk.

The people of Hong Kong aren’t fighting anymore merely against this bill, they are fighting for much more.

They are fighting for their country, they are fighting for a voice and they are fighting for a ‘free Hong Kong’.