Even though the Hong Kong government has withdrawn the controversial extradition bill that roused the largest protest movement in the region’s history, the uprising it triggered has yet to die down. Far from it: throughout September and October, police-protester clashes have continued to escalate, with levels of violence intensifying on both sides.

In recent weeks, the protesters’ tactics have now extended to vandalising metro stations and shops owned by mainland Chinese capital. Some have also started to embrace a tactic they call “private resolution”: the idea that given the untrustworthiness of the police, protesters should defend themselves and use proportionate violence against counter-protesters who assaulted protesters. This has been condemned in some quarters as plain and simple vigilantism.

And yet, over the past three months, public opinion toward protesters’ use of violence has hardly changed.

Over the last few months, the Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey of the Chinese University of Hong Kong have conducted a series of representative surveys of public attitudes toward the current protests. In our survey conducted in early August, only 39.5 per cent of 842 respondents agreed that the protesters have used excessive force; in our September survey of 623 people, which was conducted right after chief executive Carrie Lam withdrew the extradition bill, that figure held steady at 39.4 per cent.

And in our survey of 751 respondents conducted between October 8 and 14 – a particularly violent moment – the figure rose only slightly to 41.4 per cent.

Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Show all 32 1 /32 Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester throws a stone into a building at Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 11 November Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Police patrol the streets of Hong Kong the day after an officer shot a protester during a protest on 11 November EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Riot police stand guard during a protest against police brutality in Hong Kong on 27 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters carry traffic cones to build a barricade during anti-government protests in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong on 11 November Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters use obstacles and bricks to block a road in Hong Kong on 11 November AP Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Graffiti on a window smashed by student protesters in Hong Kong Polytechnic University AP Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters carry US and British flags during a demonstration in Hong Kong on 11 November Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester throws a bottle of water as he is shrouded in tear gas during a demonstration in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Journalists take pictures of police officers as they move to disperse protesters in Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures An man lies injured after being attacked by protesters who suspected him of being an undercover police officer on 27 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A man runs among tear gas during a protest in Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters gather on a field in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Pro-democracy protesters turn away from a fire lit outside the Causeway Bay Mass Rapid Transit (MTR) station in Hong Kong on 4 October Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures People rest near rows of riot police officers during a protest in Mong Kok, Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Pro-democracy protesters hold umbrellas as police fire tear gas at them ouside Tai Koo MTR station in Hong Kong on 3 October Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Hong Kong police fire a water cannon from the central government office at protesters during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on October 1 AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters burn a Chinese national flag during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters remove signs celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China during a mass rally in Hong Kong on 1 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Cardboard boxes set alight by protesters burn in the streets of Hong Kong during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures An anti-China banner has been placed in a barricade during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A pro-democracy protester runs away after police fire a tear gas canister in Hong Kong's Wong Tai Sin district on October 4 Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters run after police fire tear gas during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 4 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Pro-democracy protester take cover after police fire a tear gas canister in Hong Kong's Wong Tai Sin district on 4 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures The rally comes after months of protests on the streets of Hong Kong which began in oppposition to a proposed extradition bill EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures The extradition bill would have allowed the government to extradite people to China if they were facing certain criminal charges AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Opposition to the bill stems from the fear that the Chinese government would abuse this power for political or commercial reasons EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters soon came to demand greater freedom and universal suffrage under the One Country, Two Systems principle AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters are wearing black to symbolise opposition to China as they take to the streets in a "day of grief" while the Chinese state celebrates the 70th anniversary of its communist founding AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester charges forward holding umbrellas as a mass rally breaks out in violence in Hong Kong on 1 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester pours water on a tear gas canister fired by police during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester carries a vandalised Chinese flag through Hong Kong during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters carry a banner that denounces the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA

One clear explanation for this stability is that the public have consistently viewed the police as far more violent and abusive. As protesters have graduated from simply throwing bricks to using petrol bombs and vandalising targeted shops, police tactics have escalated in parallel, going beyond tear gas and rubber bullets to deploying specialised crowd management vehicles and firing live rounds. In one incident during the protests on China’s National Day, a police officer beset by several protesters fired at the chest of an 18-year-old protester at close range (fortunately the youngster survived).

Sure enough, the same series of surveys found that through the last three months, 68 per cent, 72 per cent, and 69 per cent of the respondents agreed that the police had used excessive force.

Besides decrying the police’s increasingly harsh tactics in the streets, protesters who’ve been arrested have accused the police of meting out physical and sexual abuse on people in custody. The police were also seen as violating a range of norms and rules supposedly regulating their conduct.

This in turn helps explain why the public so strongly support several of the movement’s core demands, among them universal suffrage, amnesty for arrested protesters, and the guarantee that the protests will not be classified as “riots”.

Another demand, the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry to look into police misconduct as well as the protest movement at large, was supported by 80 per cent, 80 per cent, and 88 per cent of the respondents in the August, September, and October surveys respectively.

After the demonstrations on China’s National Day, which were among the most violent since the protests took hold, some of the movement’s supporters adjusted their slogan from “five demands, not one less” to “six demands, not one less”, the additional demand being the dissolution of the entire police force. CUHK’s October survey asked the respondents whether the police force needs a major restructuring: close to 70 per cent replied affirmatively.

Meanwhile, as the Hong Kong government continues to reject the movement’s broadly popular demands and the police continued their hardline approach, the general public’s trust in both the government and the police force has continued to deteriorate to the lowest of levels.

In August, asked to indicate how much they trusted the government and police on a 0-to-10 scale, 44 per cent of the Hong Kong public gave the Hong Kong government a score of 0, while 43 per cent gave 0 for the police, putting the mean scores for the government and the police were 2.77 and 3.08 respectively. In the October survey, 49 per cent of the respondents gave the Hong Kong government a score of 0, and 52 per cent gave the police a score of 0 – taking their mean scores down to 2.32 and 2.60.

Meanwhile, 75 per cent, 74 per cent and 81 per cent of the respondents in the three surveys supported political reform in order to ensure that the whole of Hong Kong’s legislature and its chief executive be democratically elected.

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Overall, then, the public are still remarkably amenable toward the protesters’ radical tactics. In the October survey, 59 per cent of respondents agreed that “when large-scale protests cannot force the government to respond, it is understandable that protesters would take radical actions”.

Of course, that someone finds certain actions “understandable” doesn’t mean they consider all actions acceptable. Sure enough, in the October survey, of those respondents who said they could “understand” the use of radical tactics, more than half could also name specific actions or tactics that they found unacceptable.