Book Review - City Like Water
The handover of Hong Kong in July 1997 transferred control of the region to the People’s Republic of China after more than 150 years of British rule. As many feared, freedoms of expression, press and assembly were sharply curtailed. Then, in 2014, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress ruled that Hong Kongers could only vote for a Chief Executive from a list of candidates pre-screened by Beijing. Many citizens considered this a rejection of meaningful democratic reform and a betrayal of the assurances given under the principle of “one country, two systems”. As Beijing intensified its political interference over the years, tensions escalated, culminating in the Umbrella movement – a pro-democracy civil disobedience campaign, during which tens of thousands of people demanded universal suffrage by occupying major roads between 26 September and 15 December 2014. Police use of tear gas triggered further outrage, and umbrellas – used as shields against pepper spray and ...