MACMILLAN The Dynamics of Peaceful and Violent Protests in Hong Kong: The Anti-extradition Movement

This book shows that Hong Kong’s protests from June to December 2019 originated from not only an attempt to extradite a Hong Kong man involved in a Taiwan murder case, but also China’s effort at extraditing corrupt mainlanders who laundered dirty money in the territory. The mixture of peaceful and violent protests was due to the snowballing effect of protestors-police confrontations, the imbalanced way in which police exercised their power, and protestors’ strategies. The protests triggered the national security concerns of Beijing, which mobilized the People’s Armed Police to Shenzhen as a warning rather than sending them openly to Hong Kong to avoid undermining the image of “one country, two systems.” The entire debate raised the concerns of Washington, Taiwan, and foreign governments, heightening Beijing’s sensitivity. After the bill was withdrawn, the anti-extradition movement has become anti-police and anti-mainland, constantly challenging the legitimacy of the Hong Kong government and Beijing. This is a valuable read for China watchers, political scientists and all those interested in the future of East Asia. Review “The protests around the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill and beyond have attracted enormous world attention. Until the publication of Sonny Lo’s conceptually sophisticated and granular on the ground account, however, these events have not received the academic analysis they deserve. On a topic that is so polarized between the interests and identity of the PRC authorities and the anti-extradition, anti-police and anti-mainlandization protestors, Professor Lo’s book combines a wealth of knowledge and a courageously nuanced perspective. With the future of Hong Kong so pivotal in terms of geo-politics, the global economic system, and such a range of core governance issues, this book will be required reading in classrooms and by attentive publics.” (Andrew F. Cooper, Professor, the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo, Canada) “This is a very important book providing a timely account of Hong Kong’s complex recent politics. It does so with the granular detail that the subject deserves and that journalists often ignore.” (Richard C. Bush, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution) “This valuable study of the protest movements of 2019 provides the detailed knowledge that anyone who cares about democracy should study carefully.” (Diana Lary, Professor Emerita, University of British Columbia, Canada) From the Back Cover This book shows that Hong Kong’s protests from June to December 2019 originated from not only an attempt to extradite a Hong Kong man involved in a Taiwan murder case, but also China’s effort at extraditing corrupt mainlanders who laundered dirty money in the territory. The mixture of peaceful and violent protests was due to the snowballing effect of protestors-police confrontations, the imbalanced way in which police exercised their power, and protestors’ strategies. The protests triggered the national security concerns of Beijing, which mobilized the People’s Armed Police to Shenzhen as a warning rather than sending them openly to Hong Kong to avoid undermining the image of “one country, two systems.” The entire debate raised the concerns of Washington, Taiwan, and foreign governments, heightening Beijing’s sensitivity. After the bill was withdrawn, the anti-extradition movement has become anti-police and anti-mainland, constantly challenging the legitimacy of the Hong Kong government and Beijing. This is a valuable read for China watchers, political scientists and all those interested in the future of East Asia. Sonny Shiu-Hing Lo is Professor at HKU SPACE, Hong Kong. He was President of the Hong Kong Political Science Association from 2014 to 2018. Steven Chung-Fun Hung is Assistant Professor at the Education University of Hong Kong and his research focuses on Hong Kong’s