- Noah Smith recounts his experience visiting Hong Kong during the height of the protests in October 2019.
- He and his friend, BB, attended a peaceful protest in a small urban park and witnessed a tense standoff between protesters and police.
- The next day, they found themselves in Salisbury Garden, surrounded by thousands of protesters, and witnessed a fight between protesters and police.
- They then moved to Nathan Road, where they heard the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” for the first time.
- Noah realized that the protesters were fighting for national self-determination, but that Hong Kong would make a tiny country and had no chance for independence.
- He observed the steady Chinese pressure that had led to a loss of economic opportunity and sky-high rents, fueling the anger of the protesters.
- He and BB experienced tear gas and witnessed protesters beating a man they said was a “Chinese spy.”
- They eventually escaped the protest zone and returned to their hotel.
- Noah ends the story with a warning to China that the culture of Hong Kong lives on in the minds of a generation of Hong Kongers, and the more they integrate Hong Kong into China, the more pieces of that culture will have a chance to spread.
Click HERE for original. Published December 26, 2022
