Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal (Dec 2020)
The Revolution of Our Times”: Reasons for the Hong Kong Protests of 2019
Abstract
The protests breaking out in Hong Kong in 2019 were on an unprecedented scale – even for such a protest-full region; as was the activity engaged in by the police in response. And, while a direct reason for these to ensue was supplied by the HKSAR authorities’ adoption of a regulation providing for Hong Kong inhabitants’ extraditions to Mainland China, the contextual causes can be seen to go far wider, linking up with fears over a deterioration in the ”one country, two systems” principle. Here, on the basis of desk research, and by reference to theories from the field of contentious politics and collective action participation, this article presents a model developed to account for the dynamic behind Hong Kong’s 2019 protests. However, specific though its considerations may seem, they may also prove interesting in the very broad context of other anti-government protests taking place in the same year – in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Arab World. The model referred to takes account of demand and supply of protests (i.e. the role of dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong Region’s ”Mainlandization” and its socio-economic and political situation, the development of a localism, and the organisational structure of Opposition circles vis-à-vis the HKSAR).
