Hongkongers' Fight for Freedom

Nam Kiu Tsing is Retired Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Hong Kong. Besides publishing research articles in mathematics, he also authored a book on civil disobedience, which was taken down from public libraries by the Hong Kong Government after installation of the National Security Law.

Preface


Acknowledgements


Author Statement


List of Figures


1 The Prelude

1 A Story of the Secondary School Student




Part 1

The Study

2 Motivations for Participation

1 To Stop the Amendments


2 Anger and Shock Mobilised Actions




3 The Movement of No Return

1 The Tragic Night of 7.21: No Rioters without a Tyrannical Regime


2 To Resist by Any Means Necessary




4 Be Water: Dying For the Political Demands

1 “No Central Stage”: Each Finds His or Her Own Role in the Movement


2 Be Water: Ever-Changing Positions




5 Radiating the Movement: Multiple Roles of Backup Support

1 We Provide Supplies to Save Our Children


2 We Are Drivers Covering the Young People to Leave the Scene


3 Using Social Media for Advocating: We Are People’s Reporters


4 We Are Here to Accompany the Young People


5 We Provide Legal Assistance and Do Fundraising




6 “Hong Kong” vs “Mainland China”: Identity and Resistance

1 Foundation of Identity: Political and Social Values


2 Rejecting Immigrants and Tourists from China and Objecting to Profit Transfer to China


3 Between Chinese and Hong Kong Identity


4 “Today’s Xinjiang, Tomorrow’s Hong Kong”




7 What It Means

1 Political Motivation


2 Radicalisation of the Movement and Changes in Participants’ Roles


3 Emotions and Feelings Driving the Movement


4 Lest We Forget




Part 2

The Stories

8 Brick, a University Graduate: “Since Then, the Fights Defined Me”


9 Streambreaker at His Seventeen: “If You Ask Me What Has Been Sacrificed … It’s Probably My Future”


10 Loafer and His Brother Were Arrested: “From That Day On, We Became a Family of ‘Martyrs’”


11 Henry: as a Hongkonger, I Did “What I Had To Do”


12 Elsa: “How a Guardian for Kids Ended Up in Handcuffs”

1 Before All This Came About


2 It All Began With Protecting Our Kids


3 First Successful Mediation


4 Building Team Spirit and Rapport


5 The Single ‘Pig-Mouth’ Upgraded


6 Tears on the Battlefield


7 The Battle of the Chinese University


8 The Battle of the Polytechnic University


9 Walking Together to the End




13 Lessons from Hong Kong

1 The Changed Face of Hong Kong

1.1 The Judicial System


1.2 The Media and Freedom of Expression


1.3 The Shrinking of Civil Society


1.4 Censorship and ccp Propaganda




2 The Iron Fist Closing on a Recalcitrant “New, Young Nation”

2.1 “Society of Social Movements” (Lee, 2021, p. 1)


2.2 Localism in the Protest Culture


2.3 “Hong Kong” vs “Chinese”




3 The 2019 Hong Kong Protests and the Changing World Order


4 Actors or Pawns in History?




References


Index