HONG KONG – The largely youth-driven movement of black-clad protesters challenging Hong Kong’s government over an unpopular extradition bill is a coalition operating without a clear leadership structure. “In this whole campaign, what we are trying to do is coordinate with different people,” Leung said in an interview. They are about preserving the autonomy Hong Kong was promised when Britain ceded its colony to mainland China in 1997, a “one-country, two-systems” arrangement that was supposed to assure Hong Kong separate legal and economic status for 50 years after the handover. That Beijing-appointed leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, has insisted on forcing passage of the unpopular extradition bill — and is now the main target of the demonstrations. Others believed they needed to retreat and draw up a timetable for their demands, said Nathan Law, a leader of Demosisto, a pro-democracy group advocating self-determination for Hong Kong.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 18, 2019 02:03 UTC