The Books of Hong Kong

Four years have passed since the world was transfixed by Hong Kong's six-monthlong pop u lar upris ing, the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement. The global media has since moved on to other head lines: the pan demic, global infla tion, the wars in Palestine and Ukraine, the cli mate cri sis, AI, and more. For many, the strik ing imag ery of the 2019 pro tests-mil lion-strong peace ful marches, ninjalike, black-clad youth on the front lines, the blood shed, and the tear gas and rub ber bul lets that turned Asia's global city into an urban bat tle field-has become blurred mem o ries, soon to be consigned to the dust bin of his tory. Yet, for mil li ons of Hong Kongers, the protests and their after math are more real than ever. The Hong Kong and Beijing gov ern ments have not only used the 2020 National Security Law as an all -pur pose legal instru ment to crim i nal ize polit i cal dis sent and anni hi late civil soci ety; they have also, in the years since, expanded the scope of its appli ca tion. This reign of ter ror, like a con ta gious virus, now supercharged by an annual bud get of HK57. 3 bil lion (US7. 3bil lion), has haunted all quar ters of soci ety. As if three years of arrests, pros e cu tions, and intim i da tions targeting politi cal activ ists, oppo si tion polit i cal parties, news pa per pub lish ers, jour nal ists, civil soci ety orga niz ers, and trade unions are not enough, we are now witnessing a new cam paign tak ing aim at "soft resis tance. "