It was in April that a controversial Extradition Bill was introduced in Hong Kong, inciting massive protests for three long months. The clashes, which at times turned violent, have disrupted life in the city as students boycotted educational institutions and the riot police struggled to curb the people's ardour.
The Bill responsible for eliciting such vehemence aimed at extraditing suspects from within Hong Kong to mainland China, and was finally withdrawn in early September by the city's Beijing-allied Chief Executive Carrie Lam. In spite of this offer of truce, the protests are not expected to cease, as what began as focused demonstrations has transformed into a broad-spectrum pro-democracy movement, uniting sweeping swathes of Hong Kong's citizens through political activism and social media. The movement includes within it's ambit both moderate and radical opinions, peaceful and militant elements, and is unbound by demographic considerations or a designated centre of power.
The withdrawal of the Extradition Bill represents the government's acquiescence to just one of the five core demands made by the protesters, the other four including amnesty for those arrested during the protests, an independent probe into allegations of police brutality against dissenting citizens, the retraction of China's labelling of the demonstrations as "riots", and direct elections for Hong Kong's lawmakers and Chief Executive on the basis of universal sufferage. Since it appears that China will not yield to more demands, the fire of Hong Kong's fight for liberty seems unlikely to fizzle out.
Only time will tell whether the political crisis currently raging in the autonomous Chinese territory will succumb to pressures from Beijing or be remembered as a historic victory in favour of the ideal of democracy.
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