The financial hub has seen waves of civil disobedience over the last decade, particularly the 2014 Umbrella movement, when demonstrators occupied major intersections and government buildings demanding universal suffrage. Under the policy of 'one country, two systems', China has offered tiny Hong Kong certain liberties denied to citizens on the mainland -– including freedom of expression, unfettered access to the internet and an independent judiciary.īut the arrangement is due to expire in 2047.

'It's safe to say that the Hong Kong protests have already wrecked the (Communist) Party's party even before it's begun,' said author and activist Kong Tsung-gan. With tanks and military aircraft to parade in Beijing on October 1, Hong Kong protest organisers have promised their own major rallies. The city's summer of discontent - first triggered by an extradition bill to the mainland that has since been shelved - has morphed into a call for free elections and less intervention from Beijing. Hong Kong has been rocked by the worst political unrest since its handover to China in 1997, with another round of clashes between protesters and riot police on Saturday and Sunday.

Beijing, China | China's tightly choreographed 70th birthday bash next week risks being upstaged by pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which offer a starkly different take on the strength and power of the Communist Party being feted in Beijing.Īs President Xi Jinping gets ready to preside over a huge military parade and gala event on Tuesday, the former British colony is in tumult over the erosion of its special freedoms by Beijing.

Umbrella by Kong Tsung-gan