Abstract

Ever since the Umbrella Movement of 2014, when the people of Hong Kong blockaded streets in the business district of Central and launched an almost three-month campaign of civil disobedience calling for greater democracy, pressure from China has intensified. One of the most worrying turns post-Umbrella came between October and December 2015 with the abduction from Hong Kong (and in one case from Thailand) of several local booksellers who had a track record of publishing scandalous titles about high-ranking Chinese political figures. In many respects, Hong Kong remains a special placeā€”one with a robust civil society, where people are free to express themselves, however critically. But we must now, more than ever, join together to defend our most basic values against the tide of fear and divisiveness creeping over the border.

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