More than 1,200 protesters have been arrested over the past three months (Picture: Reuters/Tyronne Siu)

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam declared a full withdrawal of the extradition bill this week – finally.

This announcement was generally considered a positive step forward. The international community said it is a big victory for Hong Kong.

Yet Hong Kongers have paid a substantial price for this small step. More than 1,200 protesters have been arrested over the past three months, with brutal excessive force used by police.

Several Hong Kongers took their own lives to show their conviction to the cause. Two young professionals lost some of their eyesight due to the police brutality. Female protesters say that sexual violence has been used against them by police.




Having come at such a huge and irreversible expense, Carrie Lam’s retreat on the issue is far from enough.

Indeed, many of us Hong Kongers consider the remedies suggested by Carrie Lam as mere tactics, designed to buy time and paint an illusion of peace before the National Day of the People’s Republic of China, a public holiday, on the October 1.

Justice will never be achieved, and the sacrifice of our comrades will be in vain (Picture: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)

If she succeeds, international attention on the problems in Hong Kong will dissipate, and a further political purge will very possibly take place. Therefore, the truth behind this olive branch is by no means a reconciliation, but a tighter grip.

Worse still, Lam’s administration continues to turn a blind eye to the odious police brutality of the past few months. Without an independent investigation against the police force – which Lam has once again refused to commission – justice will never be achieved, and the sacrifice of our comrades will be in vain.

In the past three months, aside from the militant police and reluctant SAR (Special Administrative Region) Government, we have seen the invisible hand of China becoming more blatant in Hong Kong.

There were repeated reports of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s presence in, or at the border of, Hong Kong – designed to deter people from exercising their right to protest. Hence, it is utterly unconvincing to claim that Hong Kong is still an autonomous city, as promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The struggle is not yet over. The movement against the extradition bill was simply a manifestation of Hong Kongers’ frustrations. The lack of democracy, denial of freedoms, and encroachment on our constitutional principle of ‘one country, two systems’ are the deep-rooted reasons behind the struggle.

This will only be resolved when the five all-or-nothing appeals made by Hong Kongers are met simultaneously, which are: full withdrawal of the extradition bill, democratic reform, holding the police accountable to the use of force, dropping of all charges against protesters, and ceasing the labelling of the demonstrations as ‘riots’.

In recent years, authoritarian China has wielded great influence on major countries all over the globe with its political and economic strength. Hong Kong, at the forefront of fighting against the spread of authoritarianism, desperately needs a helping hand from the international community, especially our former metropole United Kingdom.



We sincerely make a plea for your continued support and attention. Please write to your MP, and urge them to consider proposing Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.

Although we are physically apart, our pursuit of democracy and freedom is the same. Please stand with Hong Kong as we keep fighting for our freedom and democracy – it’s not over yet.

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