The protests, which started in June over a now-shelved extradition bill, have pushed Hong Kong's economy into recession. Retailers and businesses have been hit hard as tourists stay away amid transport disruptions.

When the demonstrations first began in June, the presence of 3 million people in the streets of Hong Kong should have told Party leadership that the extradition bill would cost more than it was worth. Instead, Beijing refused to use good judgment.

The city has seen tumultuous protests against Beijing since millions took to the streets in June last year to oppose a since-scrapped extradition bill.

Protesters gather before a march to the West Kowloon railway station, where high-speed trains depart for the Chinese mainland, during a demonstration against a proposed extradition bill in Hong Kong on July 7, 2019.

Since the start of mass protests in Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill, many Taiwanese have expressed support for the protesters challenging the Chinese regime’s encroaching influence over the city.

Demonstrators march during a protest to demand authorities to scrap a proposed extradition bill with China in Hong Kong, China on March 31, 2019.

The turmoil in the legislature underscores the deepening political rift in the city, with no end in sight to the often violent anti-government protests that began in opposition to an extradition bill but have evolved into a broad pro-democracy and anti-Beijing

The protests, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, have persisted in Hong Kong for more than seven months and the long queues at the fairs showed they retain broad popular support.

Overseas Chinese media have speculated that Hong Kong’s extradition bill was prompted by Xiao’s case, with some outlets reporting that Xiao was considered a “white glove” (money launderer) for top Party officials.

The attackers targeted any passengers dressed in black because they were likely to have taken part in a peaceful march earlier in the day against the Hong Kong government’s extradition bill. The march drew 430,000 people.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets since early June as part of a protest movement that began with the demand to scrap an extradition bill that could have seen criminal suspects sent to China.

The Hong Kong government first proposed the controversial extradition bill in February.

The bill, which would have seen suspects extradited to mainland China where the judiciary is not independent, was eventually shelved.

The pro-democracy movement, alongside wider calls for preserving Hong Kong’s freedoms and rule of law, began in June last year, when millions of Hongkongers took to the street to protest the local government’s now fully-scrapped extradition bill.

Investor confidence in Hong Kong’s rule of law and autonomy from the mainland—already at record lows following last year’s extradition bill crisis—will likely keep going on a downward trajectory, he said.

After a proposed extradition bill triggered widespread protests in Hong Kong last year, the office came in for criticism for misjudging the situation.

The protests started as a campaign against a now-shelved extradition bill that would have let criminal suspects be sent to mainland China for trial but evolved into broader calls for greater democracy.

The ban followed widespread violence in the city on Tuesday that marred China’s National Day and included a police officer shooting a protester, the first victim of gunfire since the protests started in June over a now-shelved extradition bill.

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement began in June 2019 when millions took to the streets in protest against an extradition bill that would have allowed suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to China for trial.

The protests in Hong Kong began as demonstrations against an extradition bill that would allow authorities to send those wanted by Beijing to the mainland, but evolved to demand more democratic rights and condemn police brutality against the protesters

Another user, Christina Lai, said, “Before the extradition bill is even passed, [the Chinese regime] has already sent someone to China.”

But international concern over Hong Kong's autonomy mounted, as mass protests erupted last June over a proposed extradition bill that would allow individuals to be sent for trial in mainland Chinese courts.

Weeks of protests over a now withdrawn extradition bill have evolved into a broader backlash against the government and greater calls for democracy. By Patricia Zengerle 

While the extradition bill has since been dropped, in recent weeks protesters have thrown petrol bombs at police, lit fires on the streets, and stormed government buildings.

One of the five demands—to formally withdraw the extradition bill—was announced last week by embattled leader Carrie Lam, but protesters are angry about her failure to call an independent inquiry into accusations of police brutality against demonstrators

Many Hongkongers have fled to Taiwan since June last year, to avoid prosecution by the Hong Kong government for participating in an ongoing pro-democracy movement—ignited after widespread opposition to an extradition bill that would have allowed Hong

Hong Kong is in its third month of protests that started in opposition to a proposed extradition bill and have expanded to include demands for a more democratic system.

The Yuen Long violence was one of the highest-profile attacks since protests against a now-withdrawn extradition bill escalated in June last year.

(Courtesy of the author) All the cases mentioned above are similar to those accused of being committed by people arrested during the anti-extradition bill movement.

Britain and Canada said in a news release on May 30 that the extradition bill could hurt local freedoms.