I've been living in Hong Kong for the last 12 years, amazed I only just saw this thread.
I live in Wan Chai on Hennessy Road, the main thoroughfare between Admiralty and Central, where the majority of the protest marches take place. I now regularly see tear gas and riot police on the street below my apartment.
Anyone has any questions on the situation, feel free to ask, there is too much to write in one go.
In the last few weeks the violence and vandalism from the protesters have ramped up a stage, to the point that when Carrie Lam introduced an anti mask law on Friday night, the protesters rampaged across the city, vandalising MTR (subway train) stations, China-associated banks and businesses, and pro-Beijing offices. The damage was so extensive, the entire MTR system shut down on Saturday, which has never happened in 40 years, and is only just now getting back to normal.
Despite this unpleasantness, the majority of the HK population seem to still broadly support the protesters, as they feel the government has not done enough to meet their demands, and that the Occupy movement from 2014 showed that peaceful protests doesn't work.
The worry over Tanks crossing the border and entering the streets of HK was prevalent in the first few weeks, but now has receded, as the vague threats from the central Chinese government have come up empty. China cannot simply do another Tiananmen square these days, it still needs to be seen as a responsible global player, its entire belt and road initiative depends on it.
The police force that used to be considered Asia's finest is now hated and distrusted. This is because for many weeks they have been the only visible face of the government, and have hence borne the brunt of the protesters ire. They are under tremendous pressure, have not been trained for the situation and individuals have slipped up many times, using excessive force. An independent inquiry into police actions is now the top demand of the protesters, supported by over 80% of the population surveyed.
But the root cause of this all is the lack of democracy. This is a fundamentally grass roots movement that has emerged due to a population finally getting tired of an incompetent and unaccountable government that doesn't represent its people's interests, but instead the interests of big business and property developers, and by extension the Central Chinese government. The HK people want to be able to vote for a government that represents them by universal suffrage, as promised in the Basic Law that was established after the 1997 handover.
It has reached a tipping point now where the government will have to make some serious reforms in order to resolve the unrest, the current policy of suppressing protests has not worked and makes things worse. There is currently no motivation on behalf of the protesters to stop, so the unrest will continue.
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