A decade later, Hong Kong’s massive democracy protests remain an enduring memory

HONG KONG (AP) — Scores of red Chinese flags now flap near the Hong Kong government headquarters in preparation for China’s national day as police patrolled the area thousands of demonstrators occupied a decade ago to protest Beijing’s restrictions on candidates running for the city’s top job.

In Sept. 2014, protesters fended off police’s pepper spray using their umbrellas in a 79-day face-off, and the largely peaceful Umbrella Movement saw more people join an encampment around the two nearby bridges.

The movement, also known as Occupy Central, catalyzed a profound political awakening among many young Hong Kongers and shaped the huge anti-government protests in 2019, the biggest challenge to Beijing since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Beijing, in return, imposed a sweeping national security law that critics say cracked down on freedoms and saw many activists jailed while others fled the territory.

Many leading activists have been prosecuted, including some former leaders of the 2014 movement. Legal scholar Benny Tai, dubbed Occupy co-founder, awaits sentencing over an unofficial primary in the city’s biggest national security case. The movement’s then-student leaders Joshua Wong and Lester Shum also remain in custody.

Nathan Law, another former student leader, was forced into self-exile and is among a group of overseas-based activists targeted by police bounties. Two other Occupy co-founders — scholar Chan Kin-man and Rev. Chu Yiu-ming — moved to Taiwan. Another former student leader Alex Chow is pursuing a doctoral degree in the United States.

Dozens of civil society groups were disbanded. Apple Daily and Stand News, news outlets known for their critical reports of the government, were forced to shut down after the arrests of their top management.

Activist Raphael Wong, who was jailed over his role during the 2014 protests told The Associated Press Saturday he misses Leung, Tai and other political activists who were prosecuted.

The protests 10 years ago, Wong said, held immense significance for him and Hong Kong.

“If I have to put it in the simplest terms, I’d say it enlightened many Hong Kong people about civil disobedience and inspired the later anti-extradition bill movement in 2019,” he said.

While large-scale public commemorations are unlikely to occur in the city, some overseas-based Hong Kongers organized events to remember the movement in Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Australia and the Netherlands this month. Others recounted their memories of the protests on social media.

China-endorsed Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang on Thursday rejected that the city’s freedoms have shrunk over the past decade, insisting that the city’s 2020 security law and a new security law enacted in March provide sufficient safeguard for human rights.