Searching for Identity: Context and Legacy of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement
The 2014 Umbrella Movement is
a watershed in Hong Kong’s political and societal evolution. It marks both an
end as well as a beginning of developments that fundamentally transformed the
city. The significance of the Umbrella Movement lies in providing new and
unexpected answers to fundamental questions of identity: what is Hong Kong, and
what does it mean to be a Hong Konger?
Identity is a central
question for societies in the Chinese periphery, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Indeed, the significance of national and local identity for Taiwan’s
democratisation has been long established.
Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement, a few months prior to the Umbrella Movement,
highlighted that questioning a consensus
on identity could
inspire significant
civil society reactions. The Sunflower Movement and
the Taiwanese success in building a unique identity vis-à-vis China inspired young Hong Kongers politicised in the Umbrella Movement.
This article outlines Hong
Kong’s journey towards the Umbrella Movement and beyond. Hong Kong’s current
situation is a far cry from the positive atmosphere of the early days of the
Umbrella Movement. Yet the Taiwanese experience of resistance against authoritarianism,
diaspora activism, international advocacy and cultural resilience are important
sources of hope and inspiration.
With the 1997 transfer of
Hong Kong’s sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of
China (PRC), the issue appeared settled, and Hong Kong became part of the PRC.
The surrender of the local population never consulted about any agreements
determining their future, and the international community was achieved through
an assurance of no change for five decades. Hong Kong would continue separate
political and economic systems, guaranteed a high degree of autonomy, and
the Basic Law included the promise for universal
suffrage. The principle “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong” also
suggested that Hong Kongers would have more say in local politics. It
emboldened those who wanted to preserve Hong Kong’s uniqueness to fight for
more political participation. The key to safeguarding Hong Kong’s identity was
thus achieving universal suffrage.
A decade
of protests
In the following years, Hong
Kong witnessed three waves of social movements in which the preservation of
local identity was linked to new protest forms and demands for political
participation and universal suffrage. The decade of protests began with a mass
rally against the passing of a national security bill which raised fears over
freedoms of expression and civil liberties, core elements of Hong Kong’s
identity. On 1 July 2003, approximately five hundred thousand people peacefully
marched and demanded the abandoning of the bill. The unprecedented large
turn-out startled the political establishment, and the government shelved the
bill indefinitely.
Peaceful mass-protest
subsequently became the standard repertoire of social movements. New creative
protest forms which utilised space in different ways, including sit-ins and
artistic expressions were introduced in the mid and late 2000s by a new generation
of activists. The so-called post-80s generation was concerned with the
dominance of property developers and infrastructure projects in Hong Kong’s
economic model at the expense of local culture and heritage. The movements
emphasised tangible elements of Hong Kong’s identity and highlighted the
erasure of common memories. Although the government did not stop the
large-scale (re)development project, the renewed interest in Hong Kong heritage
had a lasting influence on the Hong Kong identity.
The third wave of social
movements, beginning with the so-called anti-national education protests in
2012, focused increasingly on China. Organised by students born in the 1990s,
the protests linked fears for Hong Kong’s unique identity with concerns about
the growing influence of the PRC and combined creative as well as mass protests
forms. The government withdrew the introduction of the national education
course as protests endangered the prospects of pro-establishment parties in the
legislative elections. The fears over integration with mainland China were also
reflective of the everyday experiences of many Hong Kongers. Unprecedented
levels of Chinese mass tourism and the proliferation of parallel trading
dominated their everyday experiences. Hence, protecting local identities and
interests under the banner of Hong Kong localism became popular.
A movement
like no other
At the end of the decade of
protests, Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, and academics Benny Tai and Chan Kin-man,
pondered how it could be ensured that upcoming reforms to the Hong Kong
electoral system in 2016/17 would be the long-awaited path towards genuine universal
suffrage. With a decision by the central government expected in 2014, and just
a year after the successful anti-national education protests, they conceived
the idea of a civil disobedience campaign entitled Occupy Central with Love and
Peace (OCLP). The carefully planned OCLP was envisioned as a measured and
temporary occupation of strategic sites in Hong Kong’s business district. Yet
when the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress published its
decision, it was widely interpreted as including a pre-screening mechanism for
Chief Executive election candidates, not in line with real universal suffrage.
University students and key figures of the anti-national education protests
launched a class boycott and protest gatherings. When the police reacted using
pepper spray and arrested many activists, the OCLP leadership announced the
commencement of the occupation movement. The protest turned into the Umbrella
Movement after police made unprecedented use of tear gas, which motivated tens
of thousands to join the protests. The occupation occurred at three sites:
Admiralty and Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island and Mong Kok in Kowloon, and
lasted for up to 79 days.
The Umbrella Movement marks
the culmination of the fight for universal suffrage. Although the protesters
did not achieve their goal and protest sites were ultimately cleared, the
movement introduced novel forms of political participation and protest, including
direct actions, and it also socialised and politicised an entire generation.
The occupation sites offered new opportunities for communication and community
building, creating a new sense of space and locality. The realisation that a
different Hong Kong could be possible was empowering. The Admiralty and Mong
Kok occupation sites experimented and experienced different meanings of what
Hong Kong is and what it means to be a Hong Konger. Despite the
socio-demographic variations, and differences in perspectives on leadership,
forms and aims of the movement, they were united in the hope to alter the
status quo and create a better Hong Kong, resulting in a significant
strengthening of the Hong Kong identity.
The Umbrella Movement gained
significant international media attention with live reports from occupation
sites focusing on the creative and peaceful atmosphere. It also rekindled
academic interest in Hong Kong. Hong Kong academics and Western sinologists who
built their careers on researching China became interested in the territory and
many contributed to the rapid institutionalisation of the new emerging research
field of Hong Kong Studies. The movement is a culmination of waves of protests
since 1997, and so-called Umbrella soldiers, leaders, and participants of the
movement, would shape Hong Kong politics in the coming years. The Umbrella
Movement also marks the end of the hope that negotiations with the central
government will grant genuine Hong Kong universal suffrage. This realisation
contributed to the dramatic growth of localism after the end of the Umbrella
Movement. Localism, protecting and defending Hong Kong identity and alternative
ways of envisioning relations with mainland China, became the mainstream view
among the young generation. Localists were inspired by the actions of the
Taiwanese during the Sunflower Movement and “provided
hope” to
Hong Kong activists.
Beyond the
Umbrella Movement
Localism reached its high
point in 2016, beginning with civil unrest during the lunar new year in Mong
Kok after police and localist protestors clashed over a crackdown on unlicensed
street hawkers in the area. Although the so-called fishball revolution was
declared a riot by authorities, localists gained territory-wide recognition and
emerged as the third political force. As authorities launched a hard-line
crackdown on localists, concerns over Chinese interference in Hong Kong’s
internal affairs, through, for example, the Basic Law interpretations, grew.
Localists were imprisoned, barred from running in elections, legislators were
disqualified, and a political party was banned. This atmosphere, fear for Hong
Kong’s unique identity and society, transformed mass protests against an
amendment to the fugitive bill into the 2019-20
Anti-Extradition Bill Movement, the largest protests in
Hong Kong’s history. Universal suffrage became a key demand for the first time
since the Umbrella Movement, and localism and its tactics finally became
mainstream. Lessons learned from the Umbrella Movement ensured extraordinary
unity between radical and peaceful protestors, and the Anti-Extradition Bill
Movement gained a level of mainstream support earlier movements could only dream
of. Yet the intensity of suppression was also unmatched. Extreme scenes of
police brutality became normalised during the protests. Thousands were
imprisoned or waiting for their court dates, and many more were forced into
exile or hiding. The 2020 and 2024 national security laws ensure that open
opposition in Hong Kong is nearly impossible and international links forged
since the Umbrella Movement are cut.
Currently, the question of
what Hong Kong is and what it means to be a Hong Konger is more difficult to
answer than ever. With more and more Hong Kongers joining the diaspora, the
lessons of the Umbrella Movement that inspired the movement five years later
are crucial. The spirit of ten years ago might provide some guidance: community
and solidarity, creativity, and equality. Taiwan’s history of social movements
shows that resilience and persistence bring hope.
Dr Malte Philipp Kaeding is a Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Surrey. He is the Director of the Hong Kong Studies Hub and a co-founder and co-convenor of the Hong Kong Studies Association.