When thousands of young protesters dressed in black flooded a major road in Hong Kong to protest against the now suspended extradition bill, the legacy of an earlier uprising, the unsuccessful 2014 Umbrella Movement, was evident.
Demonstrators in their teens and early 20s swarmed the same road next to Hong Kong’s legislature that had been the focal point of the three-month-long occupation calling for universal suffrage in 2014. Again, supply stations offered snacks, anti-tear gas goggles and cable ties to build barricades. Calls for water from deep in the crowd were answered by bottles passed hand to hand, as if there were some sort of protest muscle memory. But this time around, protesters wore surgical masks to shield their identities — the 2014 leaders received prison sentences.
This June has seen some of the largest demonstrations in Hong Kong’s history: business groups, lawyers and mothers all spoke out against legislation that would allow the extradition of criminal suspects to China. Organisers claim that two peaceful weekend marches drew 1m and 2m people respectively.