🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 170 (from laksa028)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa170.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.npr.org/2024/07/09/nx-s1-5025747/hong-kong-china-protests-beijing-freedom\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.npr.org/2024/07/09/nx-s1-5025747/hong-kong-china-protests-beijing-freedom\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/07\/09\/nx-s1-5025747\/hong-kong-china-protests-beijing-freedom","crawl_time":1776160487,"first_indexed_time":1720529341,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"org,npr!www,\/2024\/07\/09\/nx-s1-5025747\/hong-kong-china-protests-beijing-freedom s443","src_root_hash":"156162564976766770","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Hong Kong protesters against China's rule want to keep hope alive : NPR","meta_descriptions":["Five years after mass protests disrupted Hong Kong, and were crushed by the government, people who took part are downsizing their dreams and ambitions — but keeping a small flame of hope alive."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.\nKin Cheung\/AP\nhide caption\ntoggle caption\nKin Cheung\/AP\nHONG KONG — Five years ago, on a sweltering July 1, enraged protesters in Hong Kong smashed their way into the local legislature and ransacked the building.\nIt was a bold act of violence that laid bare high levels of frustration among the demonstrators, fed up with a government that they felt was not listening to the demands of the people, and instead was dragging the territory closer to China politically. Their freedom, they felt, was on the line, and the at-times violent\nstreet protests\ncontinued for months.\nThe protests ended after a sweeping crackdown underpinned by tough\nnational security legislation\nimposed upon Hong Kong by China's Communist rulers in Beijing\nin 2020. Thousands of people have been arrested or jailed. A once-feisty opposition movement favoring universal suffrage has been decapitated. And the populace is largely cowed, reluctant to engage in even the smallest displays of dissent for fear of arrest.\nNPR recently visited Hong Kong, and talked with more than a dozen people to understand how life has changed. Here are the stories of three — a former student leader, a former teacher and a former local politician. Two of the three were not comfortable letting NPR use their full names, let alone photos, out of fear the government could find fault in their remarks.\nA student becomes active the first time\nJason, 24, was in college at one of Hong Kong's leading universities when the protests erupted, and he got involved early.\n\"The first time I participated in a protest was April 2019. That protest was very peaceful,\" he says.\nHe didn't want NPR to use his full name because he was worried his comments could get him in trouble with the authorities.\nAt the time, demonstrations were erupting over a government proposal that would have allowed authorities in Hong Kong to extradite certain criminal suspects to mainland China for prosecution.\nProtesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019.\nKin Cheung\/AP\nhide caption\ntoggle caption\nKin Cheung\/AP\nThe former British colony and China have different and distinct legal systems — a feature of the \"one country, two systems\" model under which Hong Kong has been governed since Britain returned it to China in 1997. Opponents of the proposed extradition law feared it would erode Hong Kong's judicial independence, and that extradition could be used as a form of political control.\nThe protests escalated through the summer of 2019. In mid-June, by some estimates, around 2 million people took part in one march through the center of the city. The demonstrators demanded the government drop the proposed extradition law, and added calls for the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, to step down, and for universal suffrage.\nJason got swept up in it. He became more involved in student leadership, organizing and speaking out.\nAfter Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong at the end of June 2020, Jason and his classmates railed against it and continued to advocate for democracy. But it soon became clear that the authorities would use the law as a cudgel.\nA woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong.\nKin Cheung\/AP\nhide caption\ntoggle caption\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\"We received some death threats from, you know, some numbers. We assume that it's from the mainland,\" he says.\nThe threats got worse, and he left school.\n\"I decided to leave Hong Kong for a while and go travel, because I don't think staying in Hong Kong at that moment would be a wise choice,\" he says.\nMany people left Hong Kong after the protests, according to official statistics, which show the population dropping by more than 200,000 people from\nmid-2019\nto\nmid-2022\n. The population ticked back up last year, partly because of migration\nfrom the Chinese mainland\n.\nJason went to Europe, but a few months later, after friends and others signaled that he would not be arrested if he came back to Hong Kong, he returned.\nHis hometown felt like it had lost its soul.\nHe tried to emigrate to Canada, but couldn't. He grappled with depression.\n\"And [it's] like a really cliché quote, but freedom is like air,\" he says.\n\"You didn't notice it when you can breathe, but you certainly notice it when you got suffocated. And that is exactly the case … right now.\"\nHe is a changed person; more cautious about his words than before, he says, more guarded.\nLater this summer, he is starting law school. And he wants to be a human rights lawyer, working for disaffected groups, like Hong Kong's homeless population, so he can make a difference in the community. But he knows it will be on a much smaller scale than when he was involved in a movement fueled by a dream of universal suffrage.\nStill, he has hope.\n\"I'm not sure when and how or why, but I think Hong Kong one day [will] become the place that I'll be very comfortable living in. Not because I change, but the city changes,\" he says. After all, he points out, nobody expected the Berlin Wall to fall.\n\"I cannot expect anything. I have no anticipation. But I have, you know, an unrealistic hope,\" he says.\nBut he keeps it locked away in his heart.\nShe teaches high school history\nOn the grimy, narrow walls leading up the stairs to a hidden bookstore in the crowded Kowloon part of the city, there's still some pro-democracy graffiti — reminders of a past that feels more distant than it is.\nInside, Kimberly, who attended the same college as Jason, flashes a bright smile. Like Jason, she asks not to use her full name in this story given the political climate.\nKimberly, 27, was involved in the protests, but not as a leader. After graduating with a degree in history, she took a job teaching Chinese history at a local high school.\nShe loved working with the kids, but left the job last fall after three years.\n\"They were great. They're good. So the problem is not about them, I would say,\" she says.\nShe left mostly because she says she couldn't teach what she wanted to. High school history was becoming a battlefield, and the narrative was changing.\n\"One thing is that I want to tell them more about what is happening now and what [was] happening in the past. I want to make connections between the past and the present,\" she says.\nOfficial school curricula in Hong Kong, though, were becoming more restrictive, by design. It started before the protest movement, and has accelerated. The territory's colonial past was being downplayed, as were sensitive political events, like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.\nKimberly says she could talk about them with the students, but there wasn't much time to do so, given the official curriculum and the test preparation that the students were all engaged in.\nAfter the protests, \"national security\" became a buzzword that the authorities required teachers to fold regularly into their lessons.\nKimberly says it was easy in her history classes, but harder for teachers who taught physics or math. The authorities took it seriously, and conducted audits.\n\"There's documents, leaflets and stickers even to distribute to the students … for the National Security Day,\" she says, referring to an annual day of commemoration to raise awareness of national security across China.\nPamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem,\nGlory to Hong Kong\n, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities.\nKin Cheung\/AP\nhide caption\ntoggle caption\nKin Cheung\/AP\nWhile it was largely a box-checking exercise, Kimberly says, she felt a noose was tightening.\n\"I'm not very optimistic about [getting] more freedom in the future in education,\" she told NPR.\nSo, she is shifting gears, going to the United Kingdom\nsoon to get a master's degree in museum studies. She says she may even end up staying overseas.\nIn her hometown, though, as a student and former teacher of its history, she says it can be sad walking down the street, passing places that evoke memories of the demonstrations.\n\"I know that many people are trying to keep the memories. Many of us are using different ways to try to remember these events,\" she says.\nBut, she adds, nobody dares to do so openly — at least not now.\nHe ran a funeral business\nRichard Chan, 50, recently suffered a heart attack which he says was probably related to stress from the past few years. NPR met him at a hospital two days after surgery.\n\"A pacemaker, right here,\" he says, pointing to his chest with a grin.\nChan ran a funeral business. But he was inspired when the protests erupted and got involved. One day in August 2019 he found himself between front-line demonstrators and police during a standoff at the Hong Kong airport.\nHis attempt to mediate was caught on camera, and he was soon given the nickname \"Airport Uncle.\"\nProtesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on Sept. 1, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill starting June 9 of that year.\nChris McGrath\/Getty Images\nhide caption\ntoggle caption\nChris McGrath\/Getty Images\nThat fall, he decided to run for district council — the lowest rung of elected office in the territory. The idea was to enter a race for a constituency where a pro-establishment candidate would win if there were no competition.\n\"I didn't think I could win at that time,\" he says. But he did.\nIn 2021, though, the authorities parried with a new law requiring councilors to swear an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong's government and its laws.\n\"They claimed my oath wasn't acceptable, and I was stripped of my position and couldn't work as a district councilor,\" he says. Others faced the same fate.\nBut Chan vowed to continue to serve the community informally.\n\"Back then, I thought, the voters' authorized me to serve them for four years, so I used my savings to complete the term,\" he says. He even opened a butcher shop to raise funds to keep his office open.\nLast year, he says he served out his term — and paid his debt to his supporters.\n\"The four year term is over, so what next for Hong Kong? What can Hong Kong do? And what can I do here in Hong Kong? It's an issue to deal with now,\" he says.\nChan wants to stay engaged — but like Jason and Kimberly, he's had to scale back his ambitions. He's now involved with a cat rescue organization in the suburban district of Taipo, where he lives.\nHe says it helps him get to know the people in his community better.\nBut he knows any difference he makes in the community, for now, is going to be on a much smaller scale.","attrs_markdown":"Accessibility links\n\n- [Skip to main content](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/07\/09\/nx-s1-5025747\/hong-kong-china-protests-beijing-freedom#mainContent)\n- [Keyboard shortcuts for audio player](https:\/\/help.npr.org\/contact\/s\/article?name=what-are-the-keyboard-shortcuts-for-using-the-npr-org-audio-player)\n\n![]()\n\n****Loading****\n\n- **Hourly News**\n- **Listen Live**\n- **My Playlist**\n\n- Open Navigation Menu\n- [![NPR logo](https:\/\/media.npr.org\/chrome\/npr-logo-2026-animated.gif)](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/)\n- **![Station Logo](https:\/\/branding.npr.org\/logo\/service-logo\/logo-Color-Logo-s305.png)**\n  \n  ![WAMU 88.5 logo](https:\/\/branding.npr.org\/logo\/service-logo\/logo-Color-Logo-s305.png)\n  \n  WAMU 88.5\n  \n  - 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They want us to remember them\nJuly 9, 20248:27 AM ET\n\n[![John Ruwitch headshot](https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2021\/09\/07\/jwr-pic_sq-328878fd008a849dd85d5979088334103fccc7e8.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg)](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/people\/815044198\/john-ruwitch)\n\n[John Ruwitch](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/people\/815044198\/john-ruwitch)\n\n#### It's been 5 years since mass protests rocked Hong Kong\n******Listen****· 6:43******\n\n6-Minute Listen\n\n****Playlist****\n\n[**Transcript**](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/transcripts\/nx-s1-5025747)\n\n**Toggle more options**\n\n- [**Download**](https:\/\/ondemand.npr.org\/anon.npr-mp3\/npr\/me\/2024\/07\/20240701_me_hong_kong_downsizing_ambition.mp3?t=progseg&e=nx-s1-4998922&p=3&seg=13&d=403&size=6448737&sc=siteplayer&aw_0_1st.playerid=siteplayer)\n- ****Embed****\n  **Embed**\n  \n  **`<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/player\/embed\/nx-s1-5025747\/nx-s1-95e18403-c51c-4a1e-a650-d5b1692a40b6\" width=\"100%\" height=\"290\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"NPR embedded audio player\">`**\n- [**Transcript**](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/transcripts\/nx-s1-5025747)\n\n![Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2736x1824+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdb%2F43%2F096ef48b427f838cc8183a82ef86%2Fap19182029494118.jpg)\n\nRoy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\nHONG KONG — Five years ago, on a sweltering July 1, enraged protesters in Hong Kong smashed their way into the local legislature and ransacked the building.\n\nIt was a bold act of violence that laid bare high levels of frustration among the demonstrators, fed up with a government that they felt was not listening to the demands of the people, and instead was dragging the territory closer to China politically. Their freedom, they felt, was on the line, and the at-times violent [street protests](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/352993831\/hong-kong-protests) continued for months.\n\nThe protests ended after a sweeping crackdown underpinned by tough [national security legislation](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/07\/01\/885900989\/5-takeaways-from-chinas-hong-kong-national-security-law) imposed upon Hong Kong by China's Communist rulers in Beijingin 2020. Thousands of people have been arrested or jailed. A once-feisty opposition movement favoring universal suffrage has been decapitated. And the populace is largely cowed, reluctant to engage in even the smallest displays of dissent for fear of arrest.\n\nSponsor Message\n\nNPR recently visited Hong Kong, and talked with more than a dozen people to understand how life has changed. Here are the stories of three — a former student leader, a former teacher and a former local politician. Two of the three were not comfortable letting NPR use their full names, let alone photos, out of fear the government could find fault in their remarks.\n\n[![Hong Kong passes a new security law that toughens punishment of dissent](https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2024\/03\/19\/gettyimages-2089837526_sq-fcfb01f5f7a40e8a130d6572d5aacbfd64497d3d.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg)](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/03\/19\/1239403058\/hong-kong-new-article-23-national-security-legislation)\n\n### [Asia](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/asia\/)\n### [What to know about China's Hong Kong security law](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/03\/19\/1239403058\/hong-kong-new-article-23-national-security-legislation)\n### A student becomes active the first time\nJason, 24, was in college at one of Hong Kong's leading universities when the protests erupted, and he got involved early.\n\n\"The first time I participated in a protest was April 2019. That protest was very peaceful,\" he says.\n\nHe didn't want NPR to use his full name because he was worried his comments could get him in trouble with the authorities.\n\nAt the time, demonstrations were erupting over a government proposal that would have allowed authorities in Hong Kong to extradite certain criminal suspects to mainland China for prosecution.\n\n![Protesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019.](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fab%2Fcc%2F38e3868e4fcb9c49eb685a0e9aea%2Fap21182310878422.jpg)\n\nProtesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\nThe former British colony and China have different and distinct legal systems — a feature of the \"one country, two systems\" model under which Hong Kong has been governed since Britain returned it to China in 1997. Opponents of the proposed extradition law feared it would erode Hong Kong's judicial independence, and that extradition could be used as a form of political control.\n\nSponsor Message\n\nThe protests escalated through the summer of 2019. In mid-June, by some estimates, around 2 million people took part in one march through the center of the city. The demonstrators demanded the government drop the proposed extradition law, and added calls for the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, to step down, and for universal suffrage.\n\nJason got swept up in it. He became more involved in student leadership, organizing and speaking out.\n\nAfter Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong at the end of June 2020, Jason and his classmates railed against it and continued to advocate for democracy. But it soon became clear that the authorities would use the law as a cudgel.\n\n![A woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong.](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2001+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F4b%2F11a6396b4793bb9a8a2304313492%2Fap20182262854450.jpg)\n\nA woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\n\"We received some death threats from, you know, some numbers. We assume that it's from the mainland,\" he says.\n\nThe threats got worse, and he left school.\n\n\"I decided to leave Hong Kong for a while and go travel, because I don't think staying in Hong Kong at that moment would be a wise choice,\" he says.\n\nMany people left Hong Kong after the protests, according to official statistics, which show the population dropping by more than 200,000 people from [mid-2019](https:\/\/www.censtatd.gov.hk\/en\/press_release_detail.html?id=4478) to [mid-2022](https:\/\/www.info.gov.hk\/gia\/general\/202208\/11\/P2022081100393.htm). The population ticked back up last year, partly because of migration [from the Chinese mainland](https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hong-kong-china-chinese-talent-influx-213cca4918b7210d7669ee66fa85c7bd).\n\nJason went to Europe, but a few months later, after friends and others signaled that he would not be arrested if he came back to Hong Kong, he returned.\n\nHis hometown felt like it had lost its soul.\n\nHe tried to emigrate to Canada, but couldn't. He grappled with depression.\n\n\"And \\[it's\\] like a really cliché quote, but freedom is like air,\" he says.\n\n\"You didn't notice it when you can breathe, but you certainly notice it when you got suffocated. And that is exactly the case … right now.\"\n\nHe is a changed person; more cautious about his words than before, he says, more guarded.\n\nSponsor Message\n\nLater this summer, he is starting law school. And he wants to be a human rights lawyer, working for disaffected groups, like Hong Kong's homeless population, so he can make a difference in the community. But he knows it will be on a much smaller scale than when he was involved in a movement fueled by a dream of universal suffrage.\n\nStill, he has hope.\n\n\"I'm not sure when and how or why, but I think Hong Kong one day \\[will\\] become the place that I'll be very comfortable living in. Not because I change, but the city changes,\" he says. After all, he points out, nobody expected the Berlin Wall to fall.\n\n\"I cannot expect anything. I have no anticipation. But I have, you know, an unrealistic hope,\" he says.\n\nBut he keeps it locked away in his heart.\n\n### She teaches high school history\nOn the grimy, narrow walls leading up the stairs to a hidden bookstore in the crowded Kowloon part of the city, there's still some pro-democracy graffiti — reminders of a past that feels more distant than it is.\n\nInside, Kimberly, who attended the same college as Jason, flashes a bright smile. Like Jason, she asks not to use her full name in this story given the political climate.\n\nKimberly, 27, was involved in the protests, but not as a leader. After graduating with a degree in history, she took a job teaching Chinese history at a local high school.\n\nShe loved working with the kids, but left the job last fall after three years.\n\n\"They were great. They're good. So the problem is not about them, I would say,\" she says.\n\nShe left mostly because she says she couldn't teach what she wanted to. High school history was becoming a battlefield, and the narrative was changing.\n\n\"One thing is that I want to tell them more about what is happening now and what \\[was\\] happening in the past. I want to make connections between the past and the present,\" she says.\n\nSponsor Message\n\nOfficial school curricula in Hong Kong, though, were becoming more restrictive, by design. It started before the protest movement, and has accelerated. The territory's colonial past was being downplayed, as were sensitive political events, like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.\n\nKimberly says she could talk about them with the students, but there wasn't much time to do so, given the official curriculum and the test preparation that the students were all engaged in.\n\nAfter the protests, \"national security\" became a buzzword that the authorities required teachers to fold regularly into their lessons.\n\nKimberly says it was easy in her history classes, but harder for teachers who taught physics or math. The authorities took it seriously, and conducted audits.\n\n\"There's documents, leaflets and stickers even to distribute to the students … for the National Security Day,\" she says, referring to an annual day of commemoration to raise awareness of national security across China.\n\n![Pamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities. ](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5500x3667+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8e%2Ff6%2F1fa1e33c4024976f571c5059f6bd%2Fap20190334833228.jpg)\n\nPamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, *Glory to Hong Kong*, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\nWhile it was largely a box-checking exercise, Kimberly says, she felt a noose was tightening.\n\n\"I'm not very optimistic about \\[getting\\] more freedom in the future in education,\" she told NPR.\n\nSo, she is shifting gears, going to the United Kingdomsoon to get a master's degree in museum studies. She says she may even end up staying overseas.\n\nIn her hometown, though, as a student and former teacher of its history, she says it can be sad walking down the street, passing places that evoke memories of the demonstrations.\n\n\"I know that many people are trying to keep the memories. Many of us are using different ways to try to remember these events,\" she says.\n\nBut, she adds, nobody dares to do so openly — at least not now.\n\n### He ran a funeral business\nRichard Chan, 50, recently suffered a heart attack which he says was probably related to stress from the past few years. NPR met him at a hospital two days after surgery.\n\nSponsor Message\n\n\"A pacemaker, right here,\" he says, pointing to his chest with a grin.\n\nChan ran a funeral business. But he was inspired when the protests erupted and got involved. One day in August 2019 he found himself between front-line demonstrators and police during a standoff at the Hong Kong airport.\n\nHis attempt to mediate was caught on camera, and he was soon given the nickname \"Airport Uncle.\"\n\n![Protesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on September 1, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued rallies on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill since 9 June as the city plunged into crisis after waves of demonstrations and several violent clashes. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam apologized for introducing the bill and declared it \"dead\", however protesters have continued to draw large crowds with demands for Lam's resignation and completely withdraw the bill. (Photo by Chris McGrath\/Getty Images)](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F23%2F0d%2F2d1bb089440d95cdce6ecc6f1bf0%2Fgettyimages-1171545467.jpg)\n\nProtesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on Sept. 1, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill starting June 9 of that year.  **Chris McGrath\/Getty Images**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nChris McGrath\/Getty Images\n\nThat fall, he decided to run for district council — the lowest rung of elected office in the territory. The idea was to enter a race for a constituency where a pro-establishment candidate would win if there were no competition.\n\n\"I didn't think I could win at that time,\" he says. But he did.\n\nIn 2021, though, the authorities parried with a new law requiring councilors to swear an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong's government and its laws.\n\n\"They claimed my oath wasn't acceptable, and I was stripped of my position and couldn't work as a district councilor,\" he says. Others faced the same fate.\n\nBut Chan vowed to continue to serve the community informally.\n\n\"Back then, I thought, the voters' authorized me to serve them for four years, so I used my savings to complete the term,\" he says. He even opened a butcher shop to raise funds to keep his office open.\n\nLast year, he says he served out his term — and paid his debt to his supporters.\n\n\"The four year term is over, so what next for Hong Kong? What can Hong Kong do? And what can I do here in Hong Kong? It's an issue to deal with now,\" he says.\n\nChan wants to stay engaged — but like Jason and Kimberly, he's had to scale back his ambitions. He's now involved with a cat rescue organization in the suburban district of Taipo, where he lives.\n\nSponsor Message\n\nHe says it helps him get to know the people in his community better.\n\nBut he knows any difference he makes in the community, for now, is going to be on a much smaller scale.\n\n- [Hong Kong](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/128191588\/hong-kong)\n- [Hong Kong protests](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/352993831\/hong-kong-protests)\n- [Hong Kong law](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/864867472\/hong-kong-law)\n- [Hong Kong politics](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/748375651\/hong-kong-politics)\n- [Hong Kong arrests](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/1011409773\/hong-kong-arrests)\n- [China](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/127994355\/china)\n- [China politics](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/593451929\/china-politics)\n- [China security law](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/864840953\/china-security-law)\n\n- **Facebook**\n- **Flipboard**\n- **Email**\n\n###### Read & Listen\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/news\/)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/culture\/)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/music\/)\n- [Podcasts & Shows](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/podcasts-and-shows)\n\n###### Connect\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/newsletters\/)\n- [Facebook](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPR\/)\n- [Instagram](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/npr\/)\n- [Press](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/series\/750003\/press-room\/)\n- [Public Editor](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/publiceditor\/)\n- [Corrections](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/corrections\/)\n- [Transcripts](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/transcripts\/)\n- [Contact & Help](https:\/\/help.npr.org\/contact\/s\/)\n\n###### About NPR\n- [Overview](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about\/)\n- [Diversity](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/diversity\/)\n- [NPR Network](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/network\/)\n- [Accessibility](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about-npr\/1136563345\/accessibility)\n- [Ethics](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/ethics\/)\n- [Finances](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about-npr\/178660742\/public-radio-finances)\n\n###### Get Involved\n- [Support Public Radio](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/support\/)\n- [Sponsor NPR](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about-npr\/186948703\/corporate-sponsorship)\n- [NPR Careers](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/careers\/)\n- [NPR Shop](https:\/\/shopnpr.org\/)\n- [NPR Extra](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/npr-extra\/)\n\n- [Terms of Use](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about-npr\/179876898\/terms-of-use)\n- [Privacy](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about-npr\/179878450\/privacy-policy)\n- [Your Privacy Choices](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about-npr\/179878450\/privacy-policy#yourchoices)\n- [Text Only](https:\/\/text.npr.org\/)\n- © 2026 npr\n\nSponsor Message\n\nSponsor Message\n\n[Become an NPR sponsor](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/about-npr\/186948703\/corporate-sponsorship)\n\n![NPR Plus logo](https:\/\/prod-eks-static-assets.npr.org\/chrome_svg\/npr-plus\/npr-plus-combo-logo.svg)\n\n##### Exclusive benefits\n\n###### Give a little. 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Based on that information, and with our permission, we and our sponsors can place cookies to enable us or our sponsors to show sponsorship credits and other messages that we think will be relevant to your interests while you are using third-party services.\n\n### Cookie List\nClear\n\n- checkbox label\n  \n  label\n\nApply\n\nCancel\n\nConsent Leg.Interest\n\ncheckbox label\n\nlabel\n\ncheckbox label\n\nlabel\n\ncheckbox label\n\nlabel\n\nReject All\n\nConfirm My Choices\n\n[![Powered by Onetrust](https:\/\/cdn.cookielaw.org\/logos\/static\/powered_by_logo.svg)](https:\/\/www.onetrust.com\/products\/cookie-consent\/)","attrs_readable_markdown":"![Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2736x1824+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdb%2F43%2F096ef48b427f838cc8183a82ef86%2Fap19182029494118.jpg)\n\nRoy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\nHONG KONG — Five years ago, on a sweltering July 1, enraged protesters in Hong Kong smashed their way into the local legislature and ransacked the building.\n\nIt was a bold act of violence that laid bare high levels of frustration among the demonstrators, fed up with a government that they felt was not listening to the demands of the people, and instead was dragging the territory closer to China politically. Their freedom, they felt, was on the line, and the at-times violent [street protests](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/352993831\/hong-kong-protests) continued for months.\n\nThe protests ended after a sweeping crackdown underpinned by tough [national security legislation](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/07\/01\/885900989\/5-takeaways-from-chinas-hong-kong-national-security-law) imposed upon Hong Kong by China's Communist rulers in Beijingin 2020. Thousands of people have been arrested or jailed. A once-feisty opposition movement favoring universal suffrage has been decapitated. And the populace is largely cowed, reluctant to engage in even the smallest displays of dissent for fear of arrest.\n\nNPR recently visited Hong Kong, and talked with more than a dozen people to understand how life has changed. Here are the stories of three — a former student leader, a former teacher and a former local politician. Two of the three were not comfortable letting NPR use their full names, let alone photos, out of fear the government could find fault in their remarks.\n\n### A student becomes active the first time\nJason, 24, was in college at one of Hong Kong's leading universities when the protests erupted, and he got involved early.\n\n\"The first time I participated in a protest was April 2019. That protest was very peaceful,\" he says.\n\nHe didn't want NPR to use his full name because he was worried his comments could get him in trouble with the authorities.\n\nAt the time, demonstrations were erupting over a government proposal that would have allowed authorities in Hong Kong to extradite certain criminal suspects to mainland China for prosecution.\n\n![Protesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019.](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fab%2Fcc%2F38e3868e4fcb9c49eb685a0e9aea%2Fap21182310878422.jpg)\n\nProtesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\nThe former British colony and China have different and distinct legal systems — a feature of the \"one country, two systems\" model under which Hong Kong has been governed since Britain returned it to China in 1997. Opponents of the proposed extradition law feared it would erode Hong Kong's judicial independence, and that extradition could be used as a form of political control.\n\nThe protests escalated through the summer of 2019. In mid-June, by some estimates, around 2 million people took part in one march through the center of the city. The demonstrators demanded the government drop the proposed extradition law, and added calls for the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, to step down, and for universal suffrage.\n\nJason got swept up in it. He became more involved in student leadership, organizing and speaking out.\n\nAfter Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong at the end of June 2020, Jason and his classmates railed against it and continued to advocate for democracy. But it soon became clear that the authorities would use the law as a cudgel.\n\n![A woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong.](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2001+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F4b%2F11a6396b4793bb9a8a2304313492%2Fap20182262854450.jpg)\n\nA woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\n\"We received some death threats from, you know, some numbers. We assume that it's from the mainland,\" he says.\n\nThe threats got worse, and he left school.\n\n\"I decided to leave Hong Kong for a while and go travel, because I don't think staying in Hong Kong at that moment would be a wise choice,\" he says.\n\nMany people left Hong Kong after the protests, according to official statistics, which show the population dropping by more than 200,000 people from [mid-2019](https:\/\/www.censtatd.gov.hk\/en\/press_release_detail.html?id=4478) to [mid-2022](https:\/\/www.info.gov.hk\/gia\/general\/202208\/11\/P2022081100393.htm). The population ticked back up last year, partly because of migration [from the Chinese mainland](https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hong-kong-china-chinese-talent-influx-213cca4918b7210d7669ee66fa85c7bd).\n\nJason went to Europe, but a few months later, after friends and others signaled that he would not be arrested if he came back to Hong Kong, he returned.\n\nHis hometown felt like it had lost its soul.\n\nHe tried to emigrate to Canada, but couldn't. He grappled with depression.\n\n\"And \\[it's\\] like a really cliché quote, but freedom is like air,\" he says.\n\n\"You didn't notice it when you can breathe, but you certainly notice it when you got suffocated. And that is exactly the case … right now.\"\n\nHe is a changed person; more cautious about his words than before, he says, more guarded.\n\nLater this summer, he is starting law school. And he wants to be a human rights lawyer, working for disaffected groups, like Hong Kong's homeless population, so he can make a difference in the community. But he knows it will be on a much smaller scale than when he was involved in a movement fueled by a dream of universal suffrage.\n\nStill, he has hope.\n\n\"I'm not sure when and how or why, but I think Hong Kong one day \\[will\\] become the place that I'll be very comfortable living in. Not because I change, but the city changes,\" he says. After all, he points out, nobody expected the Berlin Wall to fall.\n\n\"I cannot expect anything. I have no anticipation. But I have, you know, an unrealistic hope,\" he says.\n\nBut he keeps it locked away in his heart.\n\n### She teaches high school history\nOn the grimy, narrow walls leading up the stairs to a hidden bookstore in the crowded Kowloon part of the city, there's still some pro-democracy graffiti — reminders of a past that feels more distant than it is.\n\nInside, Kimberly, who attended the same college as Jason, flashes a bright smile. Like Jason, she asks not to use her full name in this story given the political climate.\n\nKimberly, 27, was involved in the protests, but not as a leader. After graduating with a degree in history, she took a job teaching Chinese history at a local high school.\n\nShe loved working with the kids, but left the job last fall after three years.\n\n\"They were great. They're good. So the problem is not about them, I would say,\" she says.\n\nShe left mostly because she says she couldn't teach what she wanted to. High school history was becoming a battlefield, and the narrative was changing.\n\n\"One thing is that I want to tell them more about what is happening now and what \\[was\\] happening in the past. I want to make connections between the past and the present,\" she says.\n\nOfficial school curricula in Hong Kong, though, were becoming more restrictive, by design. It started before the protest movement, and has accelerated. The territory's colonial past was being downplayed, as were sensitive political events, like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.\n\nKimberly says she could talk about them with the students, but there wasn't much time to do so, given the official curriculum and the test preparation that the students were all engaged in.\n\nAfter the protests, \"national security\" became a buzzword that the authorities required teachers to fold regularly into their lessons.\n\nKimberly says it was easy in her history classes, but harder for teachers who taught physics or math. The authorities took it seriously, and conducted audits.\n\n\"There's documents, leaflets and stickers even to distribute to the students … for the National Security Day,\" she says, referring to an annual day of commemoration to raise awareness of national security across China.\n\n![Pamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities. ](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5500x3667+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8e%2Ff6%2F1fa1e33c4024976f571c5059f6bd%2Fap20190334833228.jpg)\n\nPamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, *Glory to Hong Kong*, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities.  **Kin Cheung\/AP**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nKin Cheung\/AP\n\nWhile it was largely a box-checking exercise, Kimberly says, she felt a noose was tightening.\n\n\"I'm not very optimistic about \\[getting\\] more freedom in the future in education,\" she told NPR.\n\nSo, she is shifting gears, going to the United Kingdomsoon to get a master's degree in museum studies. She says she may even end up staying overseas.\n\nIn her hometown, though, as a student and former teacher of its history, she says it can be sad walking down the street, passing places that evoke memories of the demonstrations.\n\n\"I know that many people are trying to keep the memories. Many of us are using different ways to try to remember these events,\" she says.\n\nBut, she adds, nobody dares to do so openly — at least not now.\n\n### He ran a funeral business\nRichard Chan, 50, recently suffered a heart attack which he says was probably related to stress from the past few years. NPR met him at a hospital two days after surgery.\n\n\"A pacemaker, right here,\" he says, pointing to his chest with a grin.\n\nChan ran a funeral business. But he was inspired when the protests erupted and got involved. One day in August 2019 he found himself between front-line demonstrators and police during a standoff at the Hong Kong airport.\n\nHis attempt to mediate was caught on camera, and he was soon given the nickname \"Airport Uncle.\"\n\n![Protesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on September 1, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued rallies on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill since 9 June as the city plunged into crisis after waves of demonstrations and several violent clashes. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam apologized for introducing the bill and declared it \"dead\", however protesters have continued to draw large crowds with demands for Lam's resignation and completely withdraw the bill. (Photo by Chris McGrath\/Getty Images)](https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F23%2F0d%2F2d1bb089440d95cdce6ecc6f1bf0%2Fgettyimages-1171545467.jpg)\n\nProtesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on Sept. 1, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill starting June 9 of that year.  **Chris McGrath\/Getty Images**  ****hide caption****\n\n****toggle caption****\n\nChris McGrath\/Getty Images\n\nThat fall, he decided to run for district council — the lowest rung of elected office in the territory. The idea was to enter a race for a constituency where a pro-establishment candidate would win if there were no competition.\n\n\"I didn't think I could win at that time,\" he says. But he did.\n\nIn 2021, though, the authorities parried with a new law requiring councilors to swear an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong's government and its laws.\n\n\"They claimed my oath wasn't acceptable, and I was stripped of my position and couldn't work as a district councilor,\" he says. Others faced the same fate.\n\nBut Chan vowed to continue to serve the community informally.\n\n\"Back then, I thought, the voters' authorized me to serve them for four years, so I used my savings to complete the term,\" he says. He even opened a butcher shop to raise funds to keep his office open.\n\nLast year, he says he served out his term — and paid his debt to his supporters.\n\n\"The four year term is over, so what next for Hong Kong? What can Hong Kong do? And what can I do here in Hong Kong? It's an issue to deal with now,\" he says.\n\nChan wants to stay engaged — but like Jason and Kimberly, he's had to scale back his ambitions. He's now involved with a cat rescue organization in the suburban district of Taipo, where he lives.\n\nHe says it helps him get to know the people in his community better.\n\nBut he knows any difference he makes in the community, for now, is going to be on a much smaller scale.","meta_canonical":null}

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URL	https://www.npr.org/2024/07/09/nx-s1-5025747/hong-kong-china-protests-beijing-freedom
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Meta Title	Hong Kong protesters against China's rule want to keep hope alive : NPR
Meta Description	Five years after mass protests disrupted Hong Kong, and were crushed by the government, people who took part are downsizing their dreams and ambitions — but keeping a small flame of hope alive.
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Boilerpipe Text	Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP HONG KONG — Five years ago, on a sweltering July 1, enraged protesters in Hong Kong smashed their way into the local legislature and ransacked the building. It was a bold act of violence that laid bare high levels of frustration among the demonstrators, fed up with a government that they felt was not listening to the demands of the people, and instead was dragging the territory closer to China politically. Their freedom, they felt, was on the line, and the at-times violent street protests continued for months. The protests ended after a sweeping crackdown underpinned by tough national security legislation imposed upon Hong Kong by China's Communist rulers in Beijing in 2020. Thousands of people have been arrested or jailed. A once-feisty opposition movement favoring universal suffrage has been decapitated. And the populace is largely cowed, reluctant to engage in even the smallest displays of dissent for fear of arrest. NPR recently visited Hong Kong, and talked with more than a dozen people to understand how life has changed. Here are the stories of three — a former student leader, a former teacher and a former local politician. Two of the three were not comfortable letting NPR use their full names, let alone photos, out of fear the government could find fault in their remarks. A student becomes active the first time Jason, 24, was in college at one of Hong Kong's leading universities when the protests erupted, and he got involved early. "The first time I participated in a protest was April 2019. That protest was very peaceful," he says. He didn't want NPR to use his full name because he was worried his comments could get him in trouble with the authorities. At the time, demonstrations were erupting over a government proposal that would have allowed authorities in Hong Kong to extradite certain criminal suspects to mainland China for prosecution. Protesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP The former British colony and China have different and distinct legal systems — a feature of the "one country, two systems" model under which Hong Kong has been governed since Britain returned it to China in 1997. Opponents of the proposed extradition law feared it would erode Hong Kong's judicial independence, and that extradition could be used as a form of political control. The protests escalated through the summer of 2019. In mid-June, by some estimates, around 2 million people took part in one march through the center of the city. The demonstrators demanded the government drop the proposed extradition law, and added calls for the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, to step down, and for universal suffrage. Jason got swept up in it. He became more involved in student leadership, organizing and speaking out. After Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong at the end of June 2020, Jason and his classmates railed against it and continued to advocate for democracy. But it soon became clear that the authorities would use the law as a cudgel. A woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP "We received some death threats from, you know, some numbers. We assume that it's from the mainland," he says. The threats got worse, and he left school. "I decided to leave Hong Kong for a while and go travel, because I don't think staying in Hong Kong at that moment would be a wise choice," he says. Many people left Hong Kong after the protests, according to official statistics, which show the population dropping by more than 200,000 people from mid-2019 to mid-2022 . The population ticked back up last year, partly because of migration from the Chinese mainland . Jason went to Europe, but a few months later, after friends and others signaled that he would not be arrested if he came back to Hong Kong, he returned. His hometown felt like it had lost its soul. He tried to emigrate to Canada, but couldn't. He grappled with depression. "And [it's] like a really cliché quote, but freedom is like air," he says. "You didn't notice it when you can breathe, but you certainly notice it when you got suffocated. And that is exactly the case … right now." He is a changed person; more cautious about his words than before, he says, more guarded. Later this summer, he is starting law school. And he wants to be a human rights lawyer, working for disaffected groups, like Hong Kong's homeless population, so he can make a difference in the community. But he knows it will be on a much smaller scale than when he was involved in a movement fueled by a dream of universal suffrage. Still, he has hope. "I'm not sure when and how or why, but I think Hong Kong one day [will] become the place that I'll be very comfortable living in. Not because I change, but the city changes," he says. After all, he points out, nobody expected the Berlin Wall to fall. "I cannot expect anything. I have no anticipation. But I have, you know, an unrealistic hope," he says. But he keeps it locked away in his heart. She teaches high school history On the grimy, narrow walls leading up the stairs to a hidden bookstore in the crowded Kowloon part of the city, there's still some pro-democracy graffiti — reminders of a past that feels more distant than it is. Inside, Kimberly, who attended the same college as Jason, flashes a bright smile. Like Jason, she asks not to use her full name in this story given the political climate. Kimberly, 27, was involved in the protests, but not as a leader. After graduating with a degree in history, she took a job teaching Chinese history at a local high school. She loved working with the kids, but left the job last fall after three years. "They were great. They're good. So the problem is not about them, I would say," she says. She left mostly because she says she couldn't teach what she wanted to. High school history was becoming a battlefield, and the narrative was changing. "One thing is that I want to tell them more about what is happening now and what [was] happening in the past. I want to make connections between the past and the present," she says. Official school curricula in Hong Kong, though, were becoming more restrictive, by design. It started before the protest movement, and has accelerated. The territory's colonial past was being downplayed, as were sensitive political events, like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Kimberly says she could talk about them with the students, but there wasn't much time to do so, given the official curriculum and the test preparation that the students were all engaged in. After the protests, "national security" became a buzzword that the authorities required teachers to fold regularly into their lessons. Kimberly says it was easy in her history classes, but harder for teachers who taught physics or math. The authorities took it seriously, and conducted audits. "There's documents, leaflets and stickers even to distribute to the students … for the National Security Day," she says, referring to an annual day of commemoration to raise awareness of national security across China. Pamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong , the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP While it was largely a box-checking exercise, Kimberly says, she felt a noose was tightening. "I'm not very optimistic about [getting] more freedom in the future in education," she told NPR. So, she is shifting gears, going to the United Kingdom soon to get a master's degree in museum studies. She says she may even end up staying overseas. In her hometown, though, as a student and former teacher of its history, she says it can be sad walking down the street, passing places that evoke memories of the demonstrations. "I know that many people are trying to keep the memories. Many of us are using different ways to try to remember these events," she says. But, she adds, nobody dares to do so openly — at least not now. He ran a funeral business Richard Chan, 50, recently suffered a heart attack which he says was probably related to stress from the past few years. NPR met him at a hospital two days after surgery. "A pacemaker, right here," he says, pointing to his chest with a grin. Chan ran a funeral business. But he was inspired when the protests erupted and got involved. One day in August 2019 he found himself between front-line demonstrators and police during a standoff at the Hong Kong airport. His attempt to mediate was caught on camera, and he was soon given the nickname "Airport Uncle." Protesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on Sept. 1, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill starting June 9 of that year. Chris McGrath/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Chris McGrath/Getty Images That fall, he decided to run for district council — the lowest rung of elected office in the territory. The idea was to enter a race for a constituency where a pro-establishment candidate would win if there were no competition. "I didn't think I could win at that time," he says. But he did. In 2021, though, the authorities parried with a new law requiring councilors to swear an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong's government and its laws. "They claimed my oath wasn't acceptable, and I was stripped of my position and couldn't work as a district councilor," he says. Others faced the same fate. But Chan vowed to continue to serve the community informally. "Back then, I thought, the voters' authorized me to serve them for four years, so I used my savings to complete the term," he says. He even opened a butcher shop to raise funds to keep his office open. Last year, he says he served out his term — and paid his debt to his supporters. "The four year term is over, so what next for Hong Kong? What can Hong Kong do? And what can I do here in Hong Kong? It's an issue to deal with now," he says. Chan wants to stay engaged — but like Jason and Kimberly, he's had to scale back his ambitions. He's now involved with a cat rescue organization in the suburban district of Taipo, where he lives. He says it helps him get to know the people in his community better. But he knows any difference he makes in the community, for now, is going to be on a much smaller scale.
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They want us to remember them July 9, 20248:27 AM ET [![John Ruwitch headshot](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/09/07/jwr-pic_sq-328878fd008a849dd85d5979088334103fccc7e8.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg)](https://www.npr.org/people/815044198/john-ruwitch) [John Ruwitch](https://www.npr.org/people/815044198/john-ruwitch) #### It's been 5 years since mass protests rocked Hong Kong **Listen· 6:43** 6-Minute Listen Playlist [Transcript](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5025747) Toggle more options - [Download](https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/me/2024/07/20240701_me_hong_kong_downsizing_ambition.mp3?t=progseg&e=nx-s1-4998922&p=3&seg=13&d=403&size=6448737&sc=siteplayer&aw_0_1st.playerid=siteplayer) - Embed Embed `<iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5025747/nx-s1-95e18403-c51c-4a1e-a650-d5b1692a40b6" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">` - [Transcript](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5025747) ![Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2736x1824+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdb%2F43%2F096ef48b427f838cc8183a82ef86%2Fap19182029494118.jpg) Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP HONG KONG — Five years ago, on a sweltering July 1, enraged protesters in Hong Kong smashed their way into the local legislature and ransacked the building. It was a bold act of violence that laid bare high levels of frustration among the demonstrators, fed up with a government that they felt was not listening to the demands of the people, and instead was dragging the territory closer to China politically. Their freedom, they felt, was on the line, and the at-times violent [street protests](https://www.npr.org/tags/352993831/hong-kong-protests) continued for months. The protests ended after a sweeping crackdown underpinned by tough [national security legislation](https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/885900989/5-takeaways-from-chinas-hong-kong-national-security-law) imposed upon Hong Kong by China's Communist rulers in Beijingin 2020. Thousands of people have been arrested or jailed. A once-feisty opposition movement favoring universal suffrage has been decapitated. And the populace is largely cowed, reluctant to engage in even the smallest displays of dissent for fear of arrest. Sponsor Message NPR recently visited Hong Kong, and talked with more than a dozen people to understand how life has changed. Here are the stories of three — a former student leader, a former teacher and a former local politician. Two of the three were not comfortable letting NPR use their full names, let alone photos, out of fear the government could find fault in their remarks. [![Hong Kong passes a new security law that toughens punishment of dissent](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/03/19/gettyimages-2089837526_sq-fcfb01f5f7a40e8a130d6572d5aacbfd64497d3d.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg)](https://www.npr.org/2024/03/19/1239403058/hong-kong-new-article-23-national-security-legislation) ### [Asia](https://www.npr.org/sections/asia/) ### [What to know about China's Hong Kong security law](https://www.npr.org/2024/03/19/1239403058/hong-kong-new-article-23-national-security-legislation) ### A student becomes active the first time Jason, 24, was in college at one of Hong Kong's leading universities when the protests erupted, and he got involved early. "The first time I participated in a protest was April 2019. That protest was very peaceful," he says. He didn't want NPR to use his full name because he was worried his comments could get him in trouble with the authorities. At the time, demonstrations were erupting over a government proposal that would have allowed authorities in Hong Kong to extradite certain criminal suspects to mainland China for prosecution. ![Protesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fab%2Fcc%2F38e3868e4fcb9c49eb685a0e9aea%2Fap21182310878422.jpg) Protesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP The former British colony and China have different and distinct legal systems — a feature of the "one country, two systems" model under which Hong Kong has been governed since Britain returned it to China in 1997. Opponents of the proposed extradition law feared it would erode Hong Kong's judicial independence, and that extradition could be used as a form of political control. Sponsor Message The protests escalated through the summer of 2019. In mid-June, by some estimates, around 2 million people took part in one march through the center of the city. The demonstrators demanded the government drop the proposed extradition law, and added calls for the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, to step down, and for universal suffrage. Jason got swept up in it. He became more involved in student leadership, organizing and speaking out. After Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong at the end of June 2020, Jason and his classmates railed against it and continued to advocate for democracy. But it soon became clear that the authorities would use the law as a cudgel. ![A woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F4b%2F11a6396b4793bb9a8a2304313492%2Fap20182262854450.jpg) A woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption** Kin Cheung/AP "We received some death threats from, you know, some numbers. We assume that it's from the mainland," he says. The threats got worse, and he left school. "I decided to leave Hong Kong for a while and go travel, because I don't think staying in Hong Kong at that moment would be a wise choice," he says. Many people left Hong Kong after the protests, according to official statistics, which show the population dropping by more than 200,000 people from [mid-2019](https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/press_release_detail.html?id=4478) to [mid-2022](https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202208/11/P2022081100393.htm). The population ticked back up last year, partly because of migration [from the Chinese mainland](https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-china-chinese-talent-influx-213cca4918b7210d7669ee66fa85c7bd). Jason went to Europe, but a few months later, after friends and others signaled that he would not be arrested if he came back to Hong Kong, he returned. His hometown felt like it had lost its soul. He tried to emigrate to Canada, but couldn't. He grappled with depression. "And \[it's\] like a really cliché quote, but freedom is like air," he says. "You didn't notice it when you can breathe, but you certainly notice it when you got suffocated. And that is exactly the case … right now." He is a changed person; more cautious about his words than before, he says, more guarded. Sponsor Message Later this summer, he is starting law school. And he wants to be a human rights lawyer, working for disaffected groups, like Hong Kong's homeless population, so he can make a difference in the community. But he knows it will be on a much smaller scale than when he was involved in a movement fueled by a dream of universal suffrage. Still, he has hope. "I'm not sure when and how or why, but I think Hong Kong one day \[will\] become the place that I'll be very comfortable living in. Not because I change, but the city changes," he says. After all, he points out, nobody expected the Berlin Wall to fall. "I cannot expect anything. I have no anticipation. But I have, you know, an unrealistic hope," he says. But he keeps it locked away in his heart. ### She teaches high school history On the grimy, narrow walls leading up the stairs to a hidden bookstore in the crowded Kowloon part of the city, there's still some pro-democracy graffiti — reminders of a past that feels more distant than it is. Inside, Kimberly, who attended the same college as Jason, flashes a bright smile. Like Jason, she asks not to use her full name in this story given the political climate. Kimberly, 27, was involved in the protests, but not as a leader. After graduating with a degree in history, she took a job teaching Chinese history at a local high school. She loved working with the kids, but left the job last fall after three years. "They were great. They're good. So the problem is not about them, I would say," she says. She left mostly because she says she couldn't teach what she wanted to. High school history was becoming a battlefield, and the narrative was changing. "One thing is that I want to tell them more about what is happening now and what \[was\] happening in the past. I want to make connections between the past and the present," she says. Sponsor Message Official school curricula in Hong Kong, though, were becoming more restrictive, by design. It started before the protest movement, and has accelerated. The territory's colonial past was being downplayed, as were sensitive political events, like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Kimberly says she could talk about them with the students, but there wasn't much time to do so, given the official curriculum and the test preparation that the students were all engaged in. After the protests, "national security" became a buzzword that the authorities required teachers to fold regularly into their lessons. Kimberly says it was easy in her history classes, but harder for teachers who taught physics or math. The authorities took it seriously, and conducted audits. "There's documents, leaflets and stickers even to distribute to the students … for the National Security Day," she says, referring to an annual day of commemoration to raise awareness of national security across China. ![Pamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities. ](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5500x3667+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8e%2Ff6%2F1fa1e33c4024976f571c5059f6bd%2Fap20190334833228.jpg) Pamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities. Kin Cheung/AP **hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP While it was largely a box-checking exercise, Kimberly says, she felt a noose was tightening. "I'm not very optimistic about \[getting\] more freedom in the future in education," she told NPR. So, she is shifting gears, going to the United Kingdomsoon to get a master's degree in museum studies. She says she may even end up staying overseas. In her hometown, though, as a student and former teacher of its history, she says it can be sad walking down the street, passing places that evoke memories of the demonstrations. "I know that many people are trying to keep the memories. Many of us are using different ways to try to remember these events," she says. But, she adds, nobody dares to do so openly — at least not now. ### He ran a funeral business Richard Chan, 50, recently suffered a heart attack which he says was probably related to stress from the past few years. NPR met him at a hospital two days after surgery. Sponsor Message "A pacemaker, right here," he says, pointing to his chest with a grin. Chan ran a funeral business. But he was inspired when the protests erupted and got involved. One day in August 2019 he found himself between front-line demonstrators and police during a standoff at the Hong Kong airport. His attempt to mediate was caught on camera, and he was soon given the nickname "Airport Uncle." ![Protesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on September 1, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued rallies on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill since 9 June as the city plunged into crisis after waves of demonstrations and several violent clashes. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam apologized for introducing the bill and declared it "dead", however protesters have continued to draw large crowds with demands for Lam's resignation and completely withdraw the bill. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F23%2F0d%2F2d1bb089440d95cdce6ecc6f1bf0%2Fgettyimages-1171545467.jpg) Protesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on Sept. 1, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill starting June 9 of that year. Chris McGrath/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Chris McGrath/Getty Images That fall, he decided to run for district council — the lowest rung of elected office in the territory. The idea was to enter a race for a constituency where a pro-establishment candidate would win if there were no competition. "I didn't think I could win at that time," he says. But he did. In 2021, though, the authorities parried with a new law requiring councilors to swear an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong's government and its laws. "They claimed my oath wasn't acceptable, and I was stripped of my position and couldn't work as a district councilor," he says. Others faced the same fate. But Chan vowed to continue to serve the community informally. "Back then, I thought, the voters' authorized me to serve them for four years, so I used my savings to complete the term," he says. He even opened a butcher shop to raise funds to keep his office open. Last year, he says he served out his term — and paid his debt to his supporters. "The four year term is over, so what next for Hong Kong? What can Hong Kong do? And what can I do here in Hong Kong? It's an issue to deal with now," he says. Chan wants to stay engaged — but like Jason and Kimberly, he's had to scale back his ambitions. He's now involved with a cat rescue organization in the suburban district of Taipo, where he lives. Sponsor Message He says it helps him get to know the people in his community better. 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Readable Markdown	![Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2736x1824+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdb%2F43%2F096ef48b427f838cc8183a82ef86%2Fap19182029494118.jpg) Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council at the time, spoke over a loud-hailer to the police as he joined protesters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Demonstrators pushed barriers and dumpsters into the streets in an apparent bid to block access to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China. Kin Cheung/AP **hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP HONG KONG — Five years ago, on a sweltering July 1, enraged protesters in Hong Kong smashed their way into the local legislature and ransacked the building. It was a bold act of violence that laid bare high levels of frustration among the demonstrators, fed up with a government that they felt was not listening to the demands of the people, and instead was dragging the territory closer to China politically. Their freedom, they felt, was on the line, and the at-times violent [street protests](https://www.npr.org/tags/352993831/hong-kong-protests) continued for months. The protests ended after a sweeping crackdown underpinned by tough [national security legislation](https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/885900989/5-takeaways-from-chinas-hong-kong-national-security-law) imposed upon Hong Kong by China's Communist rulers in Beijingin 2020. Thousands of people have been arrested or jailed. A once-feisty opposition movement favoring universal suffrage has been decapitated. And the populace is largely cowed, reluctant to engage in even the smallest displays of dissent for fear of arrest. NPR recently visited Hong Kong, and talked with more than a dozen people to understand how life has changed. Here are the stories of three — a former student leader, a former teacher and a former local politician. Two of the three were not comfortable letting NPR use their full names, let alone photos, out of fear the government could find fault in their remarks. ### A student becomes active the first time Jason, 24, was in college at one of Hong Kong's leading universities when the protests erupted, and he got involved early. "The first time I participated in a protest was April 2019. That protest was very peaceful," he says. He didn't want NPR to use his full name because he was worried his comments could get him in trouble with the authorities. At the time, demonstrations were erupting over a government proposal that would have allowed authorities in Hong Kong to extradite certain criminal suspects to mainland China for prosecution. ![Protesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fab%2Fcc%2F38e3868e4fcb9c49eb685a0e9aea%2Fap21182310878422.jpg) Protesters flood the streets in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP The former British colony and China have different and distinct legal systems — a feature of the "one country, two systems" model under which Hong Kong has been governed since Britain returned it to China in 1997. Opponents of the proposed extradition law feared it would erode Hong Kong's judicial independence, and that extradition could be used as a form of political control. The protests escalated through the summer of 2019. In mid-June, by some estimates, around 2 million people took part in one march through the center of the city. The demonstrators demanded the government drop the proposed extradition law, and added calls for the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, to step down, and for universal suffrage. Jason got swept up in it. He became more involved in student leadership, organizing and speaking out. After Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong at the end of June 2020, Jason and his classmates railed against it and continued to advocate for democracy. But it soon became clear that the authorities would use the law as a cudgel. ![A woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F4b%2F11a6396b4793bb9a8a2304313492%2Fap20182262854450.jpg) A woman walks past a promotional banner of the national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. China imposed the law that allows authorities to crack down on what they deem subversive and secessionist activities in Hong Kong. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption toggle caption** Kin Cheung/AP "We received some death threats from, you know, some numbers. We assume that it's from the mainland," he says. The threats got worse, and he left school. "I decided to leave Hong Kong for a while and go travel, because I don't think staying in Hong Kong at that moment would be a wise choice," he says. Many people left Hong Kong after the protests, according to official statistics, which show the population dropping by more than 200,000 people from [mid-2019](https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/press_release_detail.html?id=4478) to [mid-2022](https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202208/11/P2022081100393.htm). The population ticked back up last year, partly because of migration [from the Chinese mainland](https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-china-chinese-talent-influx-213cca4918b7210d7669ee66fa85c7bd). Jason went to Europe, but a few months later, after friends and others signaled that he would not be arrested if he came back to Hong Kong, he returned. His hometown felt like it had lost its soul. He tried to emigrate to Canada, but couldn't. He grappled with depression. "And \[it's\] like a really cliché quote, but freedom is like air," he says. "You didn't notice it when you can breathe, but you certainly notice it when you got suffocated. And that is exactly the case … right now." He is a changed person; more cautious about his words than before, he says, more guarded. Later this summer, he is starting law school. And he wants to be a human rights lawyer, working for disaffected groups, like Hong Kong's homeless population, so he can make a difference in the community. But he knows it will be on a much smaller scale than when he was involved in a movement fueled by a dream of universal suffrage. Still, he has hope. "I'm not sure when and how or why, but I think Hong Kong one day \[will\] become the place that I'll be very comfortable living in. Not because I change, but the city changes," he says. After all, he points out, nobody expected the Berlin Wall to fall. "I cannot expect anything. I have no anticipation. But I have, you know, an unrealistic hope," he says. But he keeps it locked away in his heart. ### She teaches high school history On the grimy, narrow walls leading up the stairs to a hidden bookstore in the crowded Kowloon part of the city, there's still some pro-democracy graffiti — reminders of a past that feels more distant than it is. Inside, Kimberly, who attended the same college as Jason, flashes a bright smile. Like Jason, she asks not to use her full name in this story given the political climate. Kimberly, 27, was involved in the protests, but not as a leader. After graduating with a degree in history, she took a job teaching Chinese history at a local high school. She loved working with the kids, but left the job last fall after three years. "They were great. They're good. So the problem is not about them, I would say," she says. She left mostly because she says she couldn't teach what she wanted to. High school history was becoming a battlefield, and the narrative was changing. "One thing is that I want to tell them more about what is happening now and what \[was\] happening in the past. I want to make connections between the past and the present," she says. Official school curricula in Hong Kong, though, were becoming more restrictive, by design. It started before the protest movement, and has accelerated. The territory's colonial past was being downplayed, as were sensitive political events, like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Kimberly says she could talk about them with the students, but there wasn't much time to do so, given the official curriculum and the test preparation that the students were all engaged in. After the protests, "national security" became a buzzword that the authorities required teachers to fold regularly into their lessons. Kimberly says it was easy in her history classes, but harder for teachers who taught physics or math. The authorities took it seriously, and conducted audits. "There's documents, leaflets and stickers even to distribute to the students … for the National Security Day," she says, referring to an annual day of commemoration to raise awareness of national security across China. ![Pamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities. ](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5500x3667+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8e%2Ff6%2F1fa1e33c4024976f571c5059f6bd%2Fap20190334833228.jpg) Pamela Lam plays with her son on the way to school in Hong Kong, July 3, 2020. Lam's 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong, the first time he heard it and sings it often. But because of a sweeping new national security law, singing it in public is now risky. Lam agreed to be photographed only if her face was not shown, fearing possible retribution from authorities. Kin Cheung/AP **hide caption toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP While it was largely a box-checking exercise, Kimberly says, she felt a noose was tightening. "I'm not very optimistic about \[getting\] more freedom in the future in education," she told NPR. So, she is shifting gears, going to the United Kingdomsoon to get a master's degree in museum studies. She says she may even end up staying overseas. In her hometown, though, as a student and former teacher of its history, she says it can be sad walking down the street, passing places that evoke memories of the demonstrations. "I know that many people are trying to keep the memories. Many of us are using different ways to try to remember these events," she says. But, she adds, nobody dares to do so openly — at least not now. ### He ran a funeral business Richard Chan, 50, recently suffered a heart attack which he says was probably related to stress from the past few years. NPR met him at a hospital two days after surgery. "A pacemaker, right here," he says, pointing to his chest with a grin. Chan ran a funeral business. But he was inspired when the protests erupted and got involved. One day in August 2019 he found himself between front-line demonstrators and police during a standoff at the Hong Kong airport. His attempt to mediate was caught on camera, and he was soon given the nickname "Airport Uncle." ![Protesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on September 1, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued rallies on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill since 9 June as the city plunged into crisis after waves of demonstrations and several violent clashes. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam apologized for introducing the bill and declared it "dead", however protesters have continued to draw large crowds with demands for Lam's resignation and completely withdraw the bill. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F23%2F0d%2F2d1bb089440d95cdce6ecc6f1bf0%2Fgettyimages-1171545467.jpg) Protesters stand at a barricade blocking the freeway to the Hong Kong International Airport on Sept. 1, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill starting June 9 of that year. Chris McGrath/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption** Chris McGrath/Getty Images That fall, he decided to run for district council — the lowest rung of elected office in the territory. The idea was to enter a race for a constituency where a pro-establishment candidate would win if there were no competition. "I didn't think I could win at that time," he says. But he did. In 2021, though, the authorities parried with a new law requiring councilors to swear an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong's government and its laws. "They claimed my oath wasn't acceptable, and I was stripped of my position and couldn't work as a district councilor," he says. Others faced the same fate. But Chan vowed to continue to serve the community informally. "Back then, I thought, the voters' authorized me to serve them for four years, so I used my savings to complete the term," he says. He even opened a butcher shop to raise funds to keep his office open. Last year, he says he served out his term — and paid his debt to his supporters. "The four year term is over, so what next for Hong Kong? What can Hong Kong do? And what can I do here in Hong Kong? It's an issue to deal with now," he says. Chan wants to stay engaged — but like Jason and Kimberly, he's had to scale back his ambitions. He's now involved with a cat rescue organization in the suburban district of Taipo, where he lives. He says it helps him get to know the people in his community better. But he knows any difference he makes in the community, for now, is going to be on a much smaller scale.
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