On May 21 2020, a year after the pro-democracy protests stormed Hong Kong, China imposed a National Security Law. On June 30, the law came into effect.
In the spring of 2019, thousands of people marched on the streets of Hong Kong in response to an extradition law by the Chinese government. The proposed bill, once passed, would allow transfers of criminal suspects from Hong Kong to mainland China for prosecution.
But the critics believed this would expose Hong Kong to China’s deeply flawed justice system and further degrade its autonomy. What began as a sit-in demonstration at the government headquarters on 15 March 2019 soon snowballed into one of the largest protests in the history of Hong Kong.
As the protests became more prominent, hundreds were arrested for the violent scenes.
The law further contained the dissent, and dozens of opposition leaders, journalists, and activists were put behind bars.
Two years on, how different is Hong Kong from what it was?
