Scenes like this play out in Hong Kong almost every weekend now.
It's been this way since June 2019.
Now the unrest is getting more and more violent.
So what's going on in Hong Kong?
In April of 2019, Hong Kong's government attempted to amend its extradition
laws. The proposed changes would allow criminal suspects from the city to
be tried in mainland China.
Critics said the bill would curtail the city's independence as well as
free speech.
The extradition measure was seen as a pro-Beijing policy and indicative of
the growing influence of mainland China over the city.
In May 2019, the U.S.
weighed in as a congressional commission warned that the bill could pose
risks for national security and economic interests.
Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, who's kind of like a mayor and
governor rolled into one, pushed the bill forward anyway.
So in early June of 2019, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in
downtown Hong Kong.
A few weeks later, protesters demonstrated near the city's government
offices. The demonstrations eventually grew violent when protesters began
throwing bricks and metal poles at police.
The police responded with batons, one hundred and fifty rounds of tear gas
and rubber bullets.
The government classified the event as a riot, which meant anyone arrested
there could spend up to 10 years in prison.
Four days later, nearly two million people took to the streets, according
to organizers.
Police, though, said that the number was closer to three hundred and
thirty eight thousand.
Those protesters gave the government five demands.
The first was a total withdrawal of the extradition legislation and a
resignation from Carrie Lam.
They also wanted a retraction so the protest would not be classified as a
riot. And they wanted an investigation into the actions of the police
during those violent protests.
Finally, they wanted to release of anyone who had been arrested in
connection with the protests.
Not long after, Lam said the bill was dead and apologized for how she
handled the situation.
I have furthermore undertaken that because this bill has caused so much
anxiety and worries and differences in opinion, I will
not, as an undertaking, I will not proceed again with this
legislative exercise.
But the chief executive felt short of meeting protesters demands to
withdraw the bill completely.
So on July 1st of 2019, on the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong
Kong from British to Chinese rule, more protests broke out.
And those demonstrations continued throughout the month.
Hong Kong has long been Asia's financial hub, but that reputation has been
shaken as the city has also become the center of Asian unrest.
Protests in the former British colony are starting to bite into Hong Kong's
economy. The number of tour groups coming from mainland China has dropped
from an average of seven thousand eight hundred per month to five thousand
six hundred forty one in June of twenty nineteen, right as the protests
approached their peak.
Also in June, occupancy rates of the city's hotels were down 20 percent
from last year.
They're expected to be down 40 percent in July.
But that's not all that's weighing on Hong Kong's economy.
The trade tensions between the U.S.
and China have slowed economic growth, according to the city's financial
secretary. In fact, during the first quarter of 2019, the city had its
slowest growth in a decade.
For Asia operations either you put your headquarters in Hong Kong or in
Singapore. So you know, from long-term perspective, you know, if Hong Kong
does not maintain relatively stable political conditions.
I'm thinking of for M and C's the have to hedge, you know, from their
perspective. So this definitely will have some negative impact into Hong
Kong's status as a financial center.
As the Asia operations center from a lot of companies' perspectives.
Hong Kong also remains one of the most expensive cities in the world.
And the unrest there has squeezed citizens even more.
Hong Kong's real estate market was rated the most expensive in the world
for the fifth consecutive year by real estate firm CBRE.
The average price of a modest one bedroom home in the city is one point
two million dollars.
A one hundred and twenty one square foot nano-apartment recently sold for a
quarter of a million dollars.
About two thousand forty one dollars per square foot.
Meanwhile, the average rent for a one bedroom apartment in the city is two
thousand one hundred eighteen dollars, and the average monthly salary for
a man is only about two thousand five hundred dollars, while the average
salary for a woman drops to one thousand nine hundred fifty dollars,
according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.
The housing crisis in the city has gotten so bad there's a plan to build
an 80 billion dollar artificial island to deal with the problem.
It's also why many experts believe protests are about more than just the
extradition bill.
One of the big things behind these protests, quite frankly, is the terrible
affordability of housing in Hong Kong, which really is upsetting a lot of
young people and middle income people.
So in a way, the housing affordability issue is part and parcel of the
protest movement.
Government officials, including executive Carrie Lam, have said that the
extradition bill is dead.
But activists want a formal withdrawal, so the protests are likely to
continue until that happens.
Fear for the city's future has caused many residents to consider leaving,
and that could lead to a brain drain in Asia's financial hub.
At least two migration consultancy firms have seen a jump in inquiries
since June, according to the South China Morning Post.
People looking to leave cite concerns ever increasing unrest, dwindling
freedoms and growing influence from mainland China.
And then there's cost of living.
As a result, many young people have been exploring options in Australia,
Canada and Taiwan.
And while the Chinese government may have had its feelings hurt by the
city's protesters, things could get a lot worse of young people start
leaving the city.
Major companies could leave, too.
After all, Singapore is another major financial hub, and it's not that far
away.