Over the course of the past 2 months, crowds reaching 2,000,000 individuals have formed in Hong Kong to protest a piece of legislation that would allow for criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be extradited to China for sentencing and punishment. This conflict has become a point of international controversy as nearly every country with a significant role in international policy has come forward with a position.

Why Protest?

The main objective of these demonstrators is to establish a clear separation between the governments of Hong Kong and China. This would include the resignation of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam, as she has been the face of all efforts to assimilate the two countries’ governmental justice systems. Her public sponsorship and support of the extradition bill—which would allow for Beijing to have greater control over legal proceedings—has made some question the influence of the legislation. Though Lam and her Beijing counterparts claim the extradition bill is a Hong Kong effort, it does not have the support from the region.

In addition to protesting the extradition bill and demanding the resignation of Lam, dissenters have requested the release of protestors arrested by police forces. There are accusations of the police forces being unnecessarily aggressive in detainment procedures. A thorough investigation of this alleged brutality is also being requested.

How is the International Community Responding?

Members of the international community have certainly taken their stances. Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, and various other leaders in the British government have urged China to respect the autonomy of Hong Kong by refraining from political microaggressions such as the extradition bill.

China has responded to Britain, telling the Brits to “keep (their) hands-off” Hong Kong. Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese Ambassador in Britain, said “In the minds of some people, they regard Hong Kong as still under British rule. They forget … that Hong Kong has now returned to the embrace of the Motherland.”

After around eight weeks of protests where millions of demonstrators rose to speak against the extradition bill, Carrie Lam has declared the legislation “dead.” However, she has yet to officially withdraw the bill. The overall concern is that allowing legislation in favor of assimilation between China and Hong Kong, will not allow for the “one country, two systems” ideal established in 1997. This occurred when Britain handed over control of Hong Kong and gave it back to China.

With Beijing officials continuing to reference the demonstrators in Hong Kong as “rioters” and “radical protestors,” it is unlikely that either side will see eye-to-eye soon.

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Fatemeh Zahra Yarali Fatemeh Zahra Yarali is a senior at Murray High School in Murray, Kentucky. Her favorite hobbies include cooking for and watching Scandal with her friends. From youth, Yarali has been interested in what a future in serving the public might hold. As a first-generation immigrant, she values the opportunities presented to her here in the United States and works hard to ensure her peers are able to meet their full potential as well. Her academic interests include cognitive sciences, sociology, and government and politics. Yarali encourages political activism, social advocacy and community service in just about all she does. She is a successful congressional debater in Kentucky, qualifying for Nationals 3 times and winning a state championship title at the KESDA state forensics tournament. She also founded an Amnesty International Chapter at her high school to introduce her peers and community to the many ways a single action in support of humanitarian causes can change the world around. Yarali hopes to pursue a degree in public and international affairs with a minor concentration in the study of the mind, brain, and behavior. She is excited to be a part of The New Voice and a generational movement to expand the horizons of people across the country and across the world -- one article at a time.

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