Latest for @dw_chinese - Into its seventh month, there is no sign that the #HongKongProtest would stop anytime soon. I talked to @KongTsungGan about the recent changes to the movement and how he thinks the movement might develop as we get close to the end of 2019.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan With two major rallies attracting hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the street since the DC election, Kong thinks that this is a strong indication that protesters still have strong motivations to demonstrate on the street.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan To him, the biggest difference is the absence of frontline protesters in large numbers. "Frontline protesters haven't carried out any large-scale actions since before District Council elections. That's the main way things have changed," he told me.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan While there has been protest fatigue, Kong said the main motivation for protesters to keep coming out is that the government has only addressed one of the five demands so far.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan ""Even though there's been this relatively peaceful period, the government's done absolutely nothing to address the political crisis, so that leaves people with even less faith in the government," he said.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan And instead of showing that they have learned the lesson, #HongKong government continues to double down on protesters, which makes people think "if we let up, the crackdown will become much worse."
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan There is also some major changes in @hkpoliceforce's strategies since the DC election. "Police begin to allow marches again, but they have a zero-tolerance policy for illegality. Whenever illegality takes place, police will turn up in massive numbers and immediately crackdown."
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce And since @hkpoliceforce and government knew there is a large support network behind the protests, which helps protests to be self-sustaining, they try to crack down on the heart of the network by going after the Spark Alliance.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce "This is a clearly political ploy under the guise of 'law enforcement'. The government and police think it's not enough to just crack down hard on illegal street protests; they also have to go after the network behind the protests in order to crush the movement," Kong told me.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce Following the education bureau's warning to teachers, Kong thinks the move shows #HongKong government is trying to "chill the environment in schools through threats and punishments."
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce "The government thinks intimidation will spread fear and that this eventually will turn the tide, making enough people think it's better to stay quiet," he said.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce Apart from the specific five demands, Kong said #HongKong protesters have developed a more long-term and distant goal for the movement, which is achieving universal suffrage. " The movement has concrete, limited demands, but it also has big demands," Kong said.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce For such a decentralized movement, Kong points out that it has three clear prongs, meaning protests, community organization and electoral politics, as well as international lobbying. He thinks #HongKong protesters have done very well in all three areas.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce "The one that appears to maybe be changing the most is the protests. There are still large and small protests, but what's different is the absence of frontliners, who up to now have provided such momentum and been such a focal point around which people rallied," Kong said.
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce Kong argues that the frontline protesters have fueled the movement with passion while keeping the government and police on the backfoot. "In a way, they're the real question."
@dw_chinese @KongTsungGan @hkpoliceforce "There are many open questions about the direction of the movement and how severe the government crackdown will be," Kong told me.
