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If the crime happens in your country, which country should run the trails? You would say, of course, the country where the crime happened. Right? Well, It’s NOT that simple in Hong Kong.
What is Hong Kong’s status?
Hong Kong is a former British colony handed back to China in 1997.
It has its own judiciary and a separate legal system from mainland China. Those rights include freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.
But those freedoms – the Basic Law – expire in 2047 and it is not clear what Hong Kong’s status will then be.
Why Hong Kong Is Protesting?
The extradition bill which triggered the first protest allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China under certain circumstances.
Opponents and protesters said this risked exposing Hongkongers to unfair trials and violent treatment. They also argued the bill would give China greater influence over Hong Kong and could be used to target activists and journalists. If you think about it, this really can kill or suppress the freedom of speech.
As a result, many Hong Kong residents mainly youth were angry and thousands of people took to the streets. After weeks of protests, leader Carrie Lam eventually said the bill would be suspended indefinitely.
Why Protests Escalate even after the bill was suspended?
Hong residents had a feeling that this whole act of suspending is temporary and once everything settles down, the bill could be brought back by China. So protests continued so the bill is withdrawn forever and completely.
This made things worse and clashes between police and protesters had become more frequent and violent.
In September, the bill was finally withdrawn, but protesters said this was “too little, too late”.
This whole protest of Hong Kong has spread in other countries too, with rallies taking place in the UK, France, US, Canada and Australia.