The 2014 Umbrella Movement was a 79-day long pro-democracy civil disobedience campaign originally conceived as “Occupy Central.” Thousands occupied roads around the legislature and in two other key districts following a student sit-in. Leading figures of the largely peaceful movement were jailed in the years following the police clearance.
LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Police record identity of handful of Hongkongers marking 8th anniversary of Umbrella Movement
One officer was heard asking a woman, who had showed up in Admiralty to mark the anniversary, why she had an umbrella when it was not raining.
Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 26
Media magnate Jimmy Lai is set to plead not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces; government workers arrested over “seditious” online posts, and the first minors convicted under the national security law.
Hong Kong film dropped from festival after censors object to Umbrella Movement scene lasting under a second
Authorities say the momentary scene, showing a 2014 Umbrella Movement protest site with colourful canopies and slogans, “reconstructed the illegal occupation movement.”
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
Beijing’s White Paper on Hong Kong democracy – a pledge renewed or a promise betrayed?
“All the promises of 1997 will continue to be honoured and called by the same names as before. Except that there has now been, in Beijing’s view, a rectification of names. ” Suzanne Pepper writes.
Hong Kong National Security Education Day: What makes a nation worth securing?
Some US policies fail the test, while China offers moderate material prosperity. But justice-seekers are unlikely to be convinced, writes Chris Maden on National Security Education Day.
FEATURES
Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung released after serving 4 years in jail
During the anti-extradition bill protests that rocked the city in 2019, the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” came to overshadow the man who popularised it years earlier.
Hong Kong’s self-styled ‘voice of reason’ says Beijing-imposed electoral shake-up is ‘the worst’ things will get for the city
Veteran politician Michael Tien says Beijing is putting in place everything it needs to ensure stability and that ”things are going to get better from now on”.
Protest sketches by local artist not distributed in Hong Kong over security law fears
Freedom of artistic expression is being eroded in the city, says Fong So.