In 2019, a controversial extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to be sent for trial in mainland China sparked a massive and unprecedented pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
At the start, the vast majority of protesters were peaceful, but a few tried to take on the police. “Battle for Hong Kong,” a FRONTLINE documentary premiering Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, traces what happened next.
With remarkable access, “Battle for Hong Kong” follows five young protesters through intense and escalating clashes with Hong Kong’s police.
The protesters say they’re fighting for their freedom against the communist government of China, which is due to take complete control of Hong Kong in 2047.
China, meanwhile, says the protestors are “radicals,” “thugs” and “separatists.”
The film tells the story of the eight-month, youth-driven pro-democracy movement through the eyes of the protesters.
They are transformed — and, in some cases, radicalized — by their experiences.
Because they face prison time if caught protesting, most of the young people FRONTLINE filmed with, used aliases, and hid their faces.
As the “Battle for Hong Kong” unfolds, we meet:
- Momo, a nurse in her late twenties who says she has been traumatized by the violence used to suppress the protests. "It turns out, if you want to be a good person who wants democracy, it’s such a tough struggle,” she tells her parents in a video message as she heads to the front lines of the protest, where she will provide medical support and extinguish tear gas rounds. “It takes so many people next to me to be injured or die.”
- Vincent, one of tens of thousands of high school students at the heart of the protests, grew up in mainland China before moving to Hong Kong as a teen, and he fears that Hong Kong, like the mainland will become a surveillance state. “In mainland China your daily life is watched by the authorities’ surveillance system,” he says. “It’s another prison outside prison.”
- Lomi, a researcher who has grown fed up with peaceful protesting. “Hongkongers used to be regarded as rational, peaceful and non-violent. Yet, have we had any breakthroughs? I don’t think so,” she says.
- Li a young man who is married with a daughter and has become a hardline protester — even shooting arrows at policemen. “It’s like a war game. I shoot and then crouch to get another arrow,” he says.
- Agnes, a veteran pro-democracy protestor who has been arrested on charges of taking part and inciting others to participate in an unauthorized assembly. “The violence and the suppression from Beijing and the Hong Kong government and also Hong Kong police is getting stronger and stronger,” she says.
Through the stories of these five young people, "Battle For Hong Kong" explores the aims and motivations of the protesters. Amid concerns about China’s growing influence in Hong Kong, the extradition bill (which was eventually withdrawn) struck a nerve.
The film shows how the protests evolved and sent one of the world’s biggest financial centers into chaos. After the police responded with force early on, beating protesters and deploying tear gas, more and more protesters themselves began turning to violent methods.
In one disturbing scene, a group of protesters is even shown attacking a Chinese tourist, whom they threaten to beat to death and then leave lying down in the street: “I’m just here on a day trip,” he says. “I can’t believe this happened.”
Vincent, the high school student protester, fears he can no longer visit his family in mainland China. But he says, “When you pursue something you consider a just cause, it’s inevitable there will be sacrifices.”
Ultimately, the film sheds new light on what both the movement and the authorities’ response to it portend for Hong Kong’s future.
“I think this movement is the beginning of opposition against this authoritarian regime. Not the final battle,” Lomi, the researcher, says.
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Credits:
A Hardcash and Evan Williams production for WGBH/FRONTLINE and C4 in association with Entertainment One. The film is filmed and directed by Robin Barnwell. The producers are Robin Barnwell and Gesbeen Mohammad. The senior producer is Dan Edge. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
