SCMP's reporting team looks back at Hong Kong's most wrenching political crisis since its return to Chinese rule in 1997. Anti-extradition bill protests that morphed rapidly into a wider anti-government movement in 2019 left no aspect of the city untouched, from its social compact to its body politic to its open economy. The demonstrations which continued well into 2020 have tested every institution of the city, from the civil service to the police to the courts and even its rail transport operator, and from offices and businesses to universities and schools, and from churches to families and even friends.
This book is for anyone seeking to understand not just what Hong Kong has gone through but also the global phenomenon of increasingly leaderless protest movements. Fueled by profound angst about the place of millennial youth in society, widening income inequality, and the speed of digital communications, Hong Kong was in retrospect ripe to be the laboratory for a new-age protest movement, nearly a decade after the Middle East's Arab spring.
The essays in the book collectively compose a picture of a society in trauma, bent and broken, but showing signs of an uncanny ability to bounce back. What shape it will be in a few years from now, however, is much harder to predict.
推薦書評
"This excellent book is an inspiring reminder of the vital importance of a free press in any society that is struggling with difficult social and political problems. Throughout 2019, international observers relied on the South China Morning Post to reveal the full complexity of the Hong Kong situation. This book provides a chance for readers to reflect on what happened, and draw lessons for the future."——Kurt Tong, former United States Consul General to Hong Kong and Partner at The Asia Group, 前美國駐港澳總領事
"'One of the British Prime Ministers once complained of bias in the media and he was asked in which direction, and he said it's biased in every direction.' — Chris Patten. The events in 2019 shocked and polarized Hong Kong. A fearless and vibrant press is indispensable in such times. It is the price to pay for a free and pluralistic society that the press provokes disagreement, irritates, or even occasionally gets it wrong. The pieces in this volume will not — and are not designed to — please everybody. This is in the best traditions of the Post — long may it continue. I congratulate the Post for a job well done."——Paul Shieh SC, former Chairman, Hong Kong Bar Association, 香港大律師公會前主席
"As mentioned in this book, the protests in Hong Kong against the extradition bill of 2019 were 'among the world's most visible political events in history'. Like the 2003 protest against the national security bill and the 'umbrella movement' of 2014, the 2019 movement was a watershed moment that raised fundamental questions about the future of 'one country, two systems'. This book, written by South China Morning Post journalists who eyewitnessed the turmoil is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to know what happened and to understand why."——Albert H Y Chen，Cheng Chan Lan Yue Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Hong Kong and member of the Basic Law Committee, 現任香港大學法律學院陳氏基金憲法學教授、香港特別行政區基本法委員會委員
"2019 was a turbulent and tumultuous year for Hong Kong. Events followed fast upon each other. This collection of stories, interviews and analysis by seasoned reporters from the South China Morning Post performs the crucial service of recording what happened, asking why it happened, and, most important of all, not rushing to any quick conclusions. A powerful, and at times moving, account of a city under siege, but trying to find its way."
Kerry Brown——Director, Lau China Institute, King's College London, 英國倫敦國王學院中國研究所所長
