Pro-democracy protesters gather against the police brutality and the controversial extradition bill at Hong Kong's international airport on Aug. 12, 2019.

The protests started over a now-scrapped extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial, but have evolved into calls for democracy, an end to Chinese meddling in the city's promised freedoms and an independent inquiry

The statement reiterated CHRF's five longstanding demands, including complete withdrawal of the extradition bill and Lam’s resignation.

Roughly one million people had turned up for a march on June 9, opposing a now-withdrawn extradition bill that sparked public outrage as it would have allowed the Chinese regime to transfer individuals to the mainland for trial in Communist Party-controlled

The protests were sparked by widely shared anger over the local government's insistence on an extradition bill that would have allowed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to arrest any individual passing through Hong Kong and sent them back to the mainland

The extradition bill would allow the Chinese regime to seek extradition of criminal suspects, and many Hongkongers are worried that the city government would be pressured to hand over individuals to face trial in mainland China, where critics say their

Suen said that as a passionate lover of Hong Kong, it was “a natural and unshirkable thing” for her to join the anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement.

Protesters at a rally in Taipei in support of a protest against the proposed extradition bill in Hong Kong, China, on June 16, 2019. (Wu Min-zhou/The Epoch Times) Don't Force It "One China Principle is only China's.

In Hong Kong, protests are now in their 16th straight weekend since millions took to the streets in June demanding that the city government withdraw a controversial extradition bill that many feared would erode the city’s autonomy.

(Jerry/The Epoch Times) June 12 marked the one-year anniversary of an intense confrontation between police and protesters in front of the government headquarters in Admiralty as the city legislature was set to debate a controversial extradition bill

Meanwhile, citizens prepare more strikes, rallies, and demonstrations to pressure the Hong Kong government into withdrawing a proposed extradition bill they believe embodies Beijing’s ever-increasing encroachment on the city’s affairs.

Press Conference After Lam delivered her statement, in which she stressed that her proposed platform for dialogue with protesters would be the solution to resolve an ongoing crisis stemming from opposition to a controversial extradition bill, a reporter

This followed mass demonstrations last month against Lam's extradition bill, which critics fear could see Hong Kong citizens being sent for trial in the mainland.

Planned Rally Meanwhile, a mass rally is also being planned—in pace with the ongoing protests in Hong Kong against a controversial and largely unpopular extradition bill that would allow mainland China to seek extradition of any individual living or

In 2019, after the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (AELAB) Movement broke out in Hong Kong, the CCP forced the launch of the National Security Law.

government’s extradition bill.

(Song Pi-lung/The Epoch Times) On Aug. 18, 2019, a rally at Victoria Park organized by the local pro-democracy group Civil Human Rights Front drew more than 1.7 million Hongkongers in protest against an extradition bill that would allow the Chinese Communist

In April 2019, the CCP introduced an extradition bill, which, like the just-proposed national security legislation, was seen by Hongkongers as a bid to take away their civil rights.

A protester holds up a sign with the words "Reject Chinese Communist Party and Red Media, Support Hong Kong Protest Against Extradition Bill," in a rally in Taipei, on June 23, 2019.

The unrest in Hong Kong began over a now-suspended extradition bill, but has quickly morphed into a wider pro-democracy movement resisting Chinese control of the former UK-ruled territory. By Andrius Sytas

Hong Kong has been rocked by a series of sometimes violent protests for over two months against an extradition bill—its most serious crisis since the city was handed back by Britain to China in 1997 but with democratic freedoms under a "one country, two

The bill removes Legislative Council oversight of extradition arrangements, however.

This was verified by one witness who spoke with a reporter from the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times during an anti-extradition bill rally on Sept. 2.

Unsatisfied with the government’s suspension of the controversial extradition bill, an estimated 2 million Hong Kongers took the streets on June 16, 2019, to demand the bill’s full retraction and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s resignation.

Anti-extradition bill protesters march to demand democracy and political reforms in Hong Kong, on Aug. 18, 2019.

bill which proposed that people could be extradited to mainland China for trial.

According to the State Department, Lai and Pompeo had discussed Hong Kong’s autonomy and an extradition bill that has since been scrapped.

The protests in Hong Kong, initially in opposition to now-suspended extradition bill that would allow people to be transferred to the mainland for trial, has now morphed into wider calls for democracy in defiance of central authorities in Beijing.

(Dale de la Rey/AFP via Getty Images) Starting June 2019, millions took to the streets in ongoing mass protests in opposition to the now fully-scrapped extradition bill.

The 28-member European Union has also expressed concern over the extradition bill that Hong Kong authorities say they want to try to get passed in the city's legislature before the summer recess. By Stephen Addison