THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE ANTI-EXTRADITION BILL MOVEMENT IN HONG KONG: TRANSFORMATIVE EVENTS AND REGIME RESPONSES

Abstract

ABSTRACT After the 2014 Umbrella Movement, the motivation for pro-democracy forces to successfully mobilise an active and large-scale social movement in Hong Kong fell into abeyance. However, the Extradition Law Amendment Bill provided a new impetus, and the 2019 Anti-Extradition Bill (Anti-ELAB) movement suddenly broke the silence, launching a series of protests and protester-police confrontations. This article aims to explore the sustainability of this movement up to the date that the extradition bill was withdrawn on 4 September 2019. The article identifies two transformative events that facilitated the intense escalation of the movement. The events suggest the issue of “police brutality” perceived by many Hong Kong people played a notable role in sustaining the movement. It also discusses how the ineffective tactics adopted by the Hong Kong government and police contributed to sustaining the movement. It argues that the proactive tactics implemented by the Hong Kong government in the Umbrella Movement were no longer capable of undermining the 2019 uprising.