Young, polite, idealistic: Hong Kong protesters will sacrifice anything for democracy
Sky News' Alex Crawford speaks to some of the young pro-democracy protesters who have taken to the streets of Hong Kong.
Wednesday 4 September 2019 10:54, UK
The "uniform" of the hardcore protesters is meant to make them blend together. It's harder for the police to distinguish who is who.
They usually wear hard hats or caps; sometimes scarves, frequently sunglasses and typically gas masks so they can withstand the CS gas being fired repeatedly at them by the Hong Kong police.
They carry rucksacks with a change of clothes so they can change and blend with the ordinary Hong Kongers on public transport.
Some of them have arrived with rocks and catapults and marbles. We saw some pushing wheelbarrows with pre-prepared Molotov cocktails - petrol bombs which they then hurl at the riot police guarding the government institutions that are so often the object of their ire.
To be honest, they look pretty damned frightening. Yet they are polite, usually well-educated and often very, very young. A lot of them are students.
"We've been forced into this," one told us. "The level of violence being used against us by the police and the government has made us do this."
The young man went on to point out: "It's not the police we're against. It's the government - but the police are protecting them."
Another, a young woman, with carefully manicured nails and designer sneakers, said: "I totally believe violence is justified at this point."
These are people who have probably never got a parking ticket up until this point. They're not tearaways. They're not social misfits. They're not your typical rebels or lawbreakers. They are idealists. And this matters to them.
Angry and getting increasingly frustrated, they are mobilising and, to the despair of the Hong Kong authorities, they are ready to sacrifice pretty much anything.
"How far are you prepared to go," I asked one. "Oh, pretty much 100%, all the way", she replied.
One of the best known faces of the pro-democracy political party Demisisto is a demure, 22-year-old university student called Agnes Chow.
She first rose to prominence as one of the leading political activists behind the "umbrella movement" in 2014.
Ms Chow, along with fellow student Joshua Wong, was particularly articulate and brave when demanding more democratic rights.
She renounced her British citizenship in order to run for political office in Hong Kong in 2018 but was blocked because of her pro-democratic views.
She's still fighting it through the courts. She's the only child of business parents who she says aren't political but are "respectful" of her decision to take on the government.
She supports Manchester United and loves learning languages (she's fluent in Japanese and was learning Korean until the pro-democracy protests took off in June). But don't be deceived by her slight frame, her self-effacing nature and her gentle, quiet personality. She's clearly made of tough stuff.
"I have a voice," she tells us, "And so I have to use it - because this is about freedom."
Both she and Mr Wong were among a wave of arrests on the eve of a large rally which was banned by the authorities on the 13th consecutive weekend of protests.
"I was still asleep at about 9.30 in the morning," she tells us with an apologetic look. "And I opened my bedroom door and there were about five police outside."
She was taken down to the police station where she was questioned and then charged with taking part in an unauthorised demonstration two months earlier in June.
During this interrogation, she was asked to remove her trousers as part of the security body check. It was an act she found extremely intimidating.
"It's not like I was being arrested for drugs or anything," she said.
"I was being accused of taking part in protests. The police didn't tell me why this should mean I take my trousers off for the body check."
Many of the female protesters have complained about sexual violence, sexual intimidation and sexual harassment by the police. Many are too scared to even report any complaints to the police.
"We need a government investigation," Ms Chow said.
"Because the Hong Kong government is just avoiding responsibility for what's going on and if there is no monitoring of the police, they can just do what they want."
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There have been disturbing images of riot police storming subway stations, firing tear gas inside the underground network, spraying pepper spray into the faces of people who clearly pose no threat and apparently indiscriminately wielding their batons and thrashing whoever they can see.
Amnesty International called some of the pictures captured by the many camera crews operating in Hong Kong as "horrifying" and "unlawful".
Human rights groups have demanded an investigation into some of the police actions while for the most part, the Hong Kong authorities have defended the actions as necessary and reasonable under these extraordinary circumstances.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has been the focus of much of the crowd criticism and chanting. The demands for her to step down are consistent. She's viewed as a 'puppet' of Beijing by many.
And if an audio recording of her addressing business leaders is anything to go by, Ms Lam is utterly tortured by what's going on in Hong Kong. She can be heard saying she's caused unforgivable "havoc" in the city and would quit if she had a choice.
The level of anarchy has been staggering with protesters able to maraud through the streets of one of the world's biggest commercial and financial hubs apparently at random, building and setting alight barriers which block roads and close whole sections of this bustling area.
We have watched as they have smashed ticket machines, sprayed graffiti all along walls, pavements, streets, pillars. This past weekend saw a huge level of destruction and disruption.
"It is just going to get worse," one protester warned us. "Because they just aren't listening to us."