By Aaron Ilia Merritt

Hong Kong protests started to die down but are building up again.

These protesters are fighting to make an independent democracy for Hong Kong. Many of these protesters are college students. The Chinese officials for years have kept the voting process very in control and in favor of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) favor. The candidate must be approved by a council made up of (CPC). C.Y. Leung, the current leader of the territory, has commented on the democracy reforms saying that the poor should not be given too much political influence.

Hong Kong was British territory until 1997 when Great Britain turned the territory back over to China. Ever since 1997, Hong Kong has been its own Republic but still controlled by the (CPC). The people of Hong Kong want to be a democracy and want fair elections. Some cases of anti-protesters have been heard, but the Chinese government has been known to censor what gets said. Also they have been known to imprison whistleblowers.

The protests remind many of 1989’s Tiananmen Square protest which was a protest gone horribly wrong. The protesters were made up of students who wanted economic reform. The Chinese government sent out the local authority to suppress the protesters. It only got worse. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was sent in to Tiananmen Square to end the protesters. Neither the protesters or the Chinese government wants to repeat history, especially a history where 241–2,600 died and 7,000–10,000 were injured. The first numbers are China’s count and the second numbers are the U.N.’s count. Although the terms are different and the reasons to protest have changed, both the protesters and Chinese officials need to do their best to keep an orderly display of pro-democracy protests.

Recently the protesters have been slowly diminishing, but it is just the beginning of the end. Many thought the protesters would prevail, but they continue to fight for democracy.