Anjana Ahuja - Spike: The Virus versus the People

Hong Kong’s anti-extradition movement took the world by storm, impressing and inspiring the global public with its energy, creativity and tenacity. For China’s rulers, 2019 was pivotal: the 30th anniversary of Tiananmen, the 70th of the Maoist revolution, and the 100th anniversary of the May 4th movement, which saw thousands of students take to the streets to denounce imperial aggression, traditional Confucian values and the corruption of the old regime. Given this, many feared the worst when the citizens of Hong Kong openly defied their rule in order to protect their civil liberties and the rule of law, and to demand the right to elect their leaders through universal suffrage. Yet their courage and tenacity, against incredible odds, have gripped the attention of the world. How did a world financial center known for its free-wheeling capitalism transform into a hotbed of mass defiance and civic disobedience? Why did this defiance and disobedience intensify in 2019? And what and how, crucially, might it achieve?