Precis

Once a city of protest, Hong Kong has become a city of fear.

The ABC's China correspondent Bill Birtles reported on the tumultuous Hong Kong pro-democracy protests throughout 2019-2020, before his abrupt return home when China-Australia relations blew up.

Now Birtles brings us the final chapter of the Hong Kong rebellion, as Beijing exerts an iron grip on the once liberal outpost, snuffing out the last breaths of democracy.

He tells the story of Max, a young Hong Kong activist, who must decide if he should stay and fight for democracy, risking jail, or flee and continue to campaign from outside.

"The atmosphere is different. It's a lot grimmer. And it's become a lot harder to hold on to hope," says Max.

We follow Max as he moves carefully around the city, building networks with those committed to staying and pondering a future in exile where he has freedom but no family.

We speak with protest leader Joshua Wong, on trial for organising protests.

"Now is not the time for us to kow-tow to Beijing and surrender!" declares a defiant Wong. Days after our interview, Wong is jailed.

We join pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo as she packs up her office in the Legislative Council, having resigned in protest at China's squeeze on who can run for office.

"I was quite happy to call it a day but that doesn't mean we're giving up the democracy fight in Hong Kong," says Mo, but she concedes it's a losing battle.

"On the surface, Hong Kong is still quite so glamorous, quite so prosperous looking, but then deep down it's rotting."

Some locals - like Australian educated, pro-government politician Nixie Lam - welcome an end to the chaos of protest and the return of law and order.

"Just don't say you want Hong Kong independent...or accept foreign monies to try to promote things like that. Then you'll be totally fine," says Lam, denouncing the protest leaders as traitors.

As Max prepares to depart, Beijing orders a wave of arrests, sending a thousand police across the city to detain the remaining pro-democracy leadership. Claudia Mo is on the list.

"I never imagined Hong Kong would have come to this," she says.

Band plays

Music

00:00

Pro-democracy members wearing gas masks, singing/ Street protests

Singing: "For the tears that we shed on this soil for the anguish we had in this turmoil…"

00:07

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  It was the pro-democracy movement’s anthem of hope.

00:18

That somehow, the will of millions of Hong Kongers would prevail over the might of Beijing.

00:22

Singing:  "For the fear that looms overhead, for the hope that moves us ahead…"

00:32

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  But what a difference a year makes.

00:44

Hong Kong, once China’s liberal outpost, has gone from a city of protest to a city of fear.

00:46

Police in shopping mall

COVID restrictions have unexpectedly conspired with Beijing’s efforts to crush the protests and silence a city.

00:55

Arrest of pro-democracy supporters

And one by one, China’s government is taking down those who resist -- from billionaire tycoons to uni students.

01:09

Joshua addresses supporters

JOSHUA WONG:  "And now is not the time for us to kowtow to Beijing and to surrender! Thank you."

01:19

Claudia in office by window

CLAUDIA MO:  "The mood is a bit eerie. On the surface, Hong Kong is still quite so glamorous, quite so prosperous looking, but then deep down it's rotting.

01:24

Max walking down street, wearing face mask

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  We join one young pro-democracy activist who's been forced underground.

01:39

Max 100%

MAX MOK:  The atmosphere is different. It’s a lot grimmer. And it's become a lot harder to hold onto hope.

01:45

Max walking down street, wearing face mask

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  As dissent is crushed, Hong Kong activists face a tough choice; to stay or flee? Prison or exile?

01:50

Max 100%

MAX MOK:  This is the only thing I think about now, these couple of weeks, is whether or not I'll be able to leave Hong Kong before something goes down.

02:03

Max sits beside water. Story Title:
HONG KONG
City of Fear

Music

02:12

Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. Super: 2019

02:24

Birtles at protests

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  For six months, I reported from the streets as Hong Kongers rose up and a city burned.

02:31

"…and here it is the inevitable conclusion to another night of protests here in Hong Kong…"

02:46

Many people I interviewed are now imprisoned.

02:52

Australian news report

NEWSREADER:  "Tonight, an extraordinary standoff. Two Australian journalists, including the ABC’s China correspondent Bill Birtles, have been rushed out of China, amid fears they faced arbitrary detention."

02:58

Birtles at Australian airport

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  As China’s relations with Australia disintegrated, I was caught in the middle of a worsening diplomatic crisis.

"…It’s a relief to be back in a country with a genuine rule of law."

03:10

Birtles on Sydney beach

03:24

So this is my new temporary home – Sydney’s eastern beaches.

03:32

Birtles to camera. Super:
Reporter
Bill Birtles

I can’t go back to China any time soon. And as for Hong Kong – well it's more and more like mainland China. People that I used to ring during the protests, they won’t even pick up the phone and speak to me anymore. The fear there is real and it is widespread. There’s a new national security law and many people there think that talking to someone like me, a foreign journalist, could now put them at risk of being arrested and jailed. 

03:36

HK drone shot. Night

Music

04:05

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter: But with the collaboration of a local crew, we’ve been able to document the crushing of a rebellion.

04:12

Joshua and other protest leaders outside court

The crackdown and Coronavirus may have cleared the streets of demonstrators, but there’s still a crowd at the courts for the arrival of protest leaders.

04:24

Joshua 100%. Super:
Joshua Wong
Democracy activist

JOSHUA WONG: We have more than 10,000 Hong Kongers who were arrested, 2,000 of us were prosecuted, hundreds of activists were already physically locked up in prison.

04:33

Protest leaders into court

I think their courage and determination impressed me and inspired me there’s no reason for us to step backwards.

04:45

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  24-year-old Joshua Wong and his two closest political allies are fronting up for their big day in court. Hong Kong’s most famous student activist, he’s led pro-democracy protests since he was a teenager.

04:52

Joshua addresses press

JOSHUA WONG:  "It would not be surprising if I'm sent to immediate detention today. In the past three weeks, a total of 23 activists, journalists and councillors came under arrest. Every day we have activists standing in trial, protestor sent to jail."

05:06

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Today, he'll plead guilty to organising and inciting a protest at the height of the arrest in 2019.

05:23

JOSHUA WONG:  "May God bless Hong Kong! And we will continue to fight for freedom!"

05:31

Music

05:35

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Anticipating another jail stretch, Joshua Wong agreed to talk to us a few days before his trial.

\

05:42

Joshua 100%

JOSHUA WONG:  I would say that, as the one who has been arrested for ten times, faced six court cases, been jailed for three times and might be jailed soon, time might be running out for my personal safety. As a political activist, my role is to continue to fight and to let the voice of Hong Kongers be heard around the world.

05:50

Prison van leaves court. Supporters around van

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  His instincts prove correct. Five days after our interview Joshua Wong leaves court in a prison van with a 13-month sentence. One of Hong Kong’s most prominent voices now publicly silenced.  Supporters defiantly telling him he’s not alone. 

06:12

Joshua and others at prison

It could have been worse. His ‘crime’ happened before the introduction in June 2020 of a feared new national security law, under which anyone can now be charged with terrorism, subversion, secession, or foreign collusion. The penalty -- up to life in prison.

06:32

Razor wire around prison

JOSHUA WONG: We can still go forward and overcome the threat. I would say the threat could not defeat Hong Kongers, it would just make Hong Kongers even more determined to keep on our struggle.

06:55

Drone shot over HK high rice

Music

09:07

Exterior. Law Courts

07:24

Max outside courts

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  For each activist voice muted, there are many more still on the streets, watching, waiting to step forward.

07:31

MAX MOK:  When you see Joshua Wong being arrested, it's not just Joshua Wong alone, it’s also the thousands of protestors that is with him.

07:39

Max 100%

Thousands of other protestors are also being arrested, these are smaller names, these are people that you’ll never see the face or know the names of.

07:46

Max in railway station

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  20-year-old Max Mok is part of Hong Kong’s Rebellion Generation. He’s more radical than most, calling for much more than self-rule.

07:55

MAX MOK: Hong Kong will be independent. That’s what I believe in.

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  It’s a statement that could now get him jailed.

08:12

Music

08:18

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Raised on Hong Kong Island, Max Mok left for university in Australia, only to come back and join the mass movement.

08:25

Max onto train

MAX MOK:  I remember seeing the scenes of the protest, and I just couldn’t wait to go back to Hong Kong, because I felt this strong need to serve our homeland.

08:34

Huge protest crowd

08:42

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Like so many young Hong Kongers, Max joined the protests, hoping peaceful defiance would be enough.

08:49

Max 100%

MAX MOK:  It was a gradual process for me. I started from way back, just passing things along, helping signal things,

09:03

Protestors with lasers and torches. Police move on protestors

not even in full black tracksuit and black sportswear, but eventually, in the span of like a week, honestly,

09:09

Max 100%

you kind of just see the need to move forward, to take positions that are now empty, because they were arresting lots of people.

09:24

Police arrest protestors

Music

09:30

Black clad protestors with umbrellas

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  He donned the black street uniform of the radicals, joining a hardcore group that believed violence was the only way to resist Beijing’s tightening grip on the city: attacking pro-China supporters, destroying their property.

09:44

MAX MOK: The one major goal we had in mind is to push this movement even further than it was, to have more confrontations, to be more confrontational against the regime and the police.

10:01

Max in student protest briefing

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  But as police ramped up the arrests, Max changed tactics, eventually disavowing violence, forming a peaceful student political group to launch verbal assaults on the authorities.

10:17

MAX MOK: "We believe, many Hong Kongers absolutely resent the police saying Hong Kong has returned to being 'calm and peaceful'. The regime and police might enjoy the calm and peaceful time, but no one else."

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  For this, he was denounced as a traitor by the pro-Beijing media.

10:32

Drone shot. HK, night.

Music

10:50

Protestors into Legislative Council

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  A defining moment of the 2019 protests came when activists smashed their way into the Hong Kong parliament, the Legislative Council.

10:58

Birtles to camera

"…Some are wondering if maybe this could be a tactic – let the police stand down – let the protestors really run amok…

11:11

Protestors into Legislative Council

Extraordinary scenes – thousands of young demonstrators storming the Legislative Council, absolutely ransacking it, spraying graffiti all over the walls. It is such a huge embarrassment to the Hong Kong Government and to China’s Government."

11:17

The former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under a deal touted as 'One country, two systems', with Hong Kong guaranteed self-rule for 50 years. An older generation of pro-democracy activists sought to engage with the system, by running for seats here in the Council. But many of Max's generation, born after the handover, say they failed. 

11:37

Max 100%

MAX MOK:  I think somewhere in them, they still are fighting for the cause, but the facts are here. For the past 20 years we haven't seen any roadmap and we haven't seen any significant progress. All we have seen is the gradual

12:06

Protestors into Legislative Council

erosion of Hong Kong's democracy, and of the little democracy we had.

12:17

Max 100%

I'm not Chinese, and I won't be. I'm a Hong Konger and that's what I'm fighting for.  So that's the major difference.

12:22

Legislative Council exterior

12:29

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Today, the graffiti is gone, the damage repaired. Inside, Legislative Council member

12:34

Claudia in office inside Legislative Council

Claudia Mo has just quit, after eight years on the pro-democracy ticket.

12:41

CLAUDIA MO: "Now, I’m taking you to my room…You see how they cover me up?. See… used to be here! Now it's all covered up."

12:47

It’s very maddening. It’s not just physically strenuous, it's mentally very exhausting and so I was quite happy to call it a day, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up the democracy fight in Hong Kong.

13:03

Claudia packs up office

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Claudia Mo, along with the city’s remaining 15 pro-democracy politicians are packing up and resigning en masse.

13:23

Claudia 100%

CLAUDIA MO: What exactly happened was that they disqualified four of our democratic legislators – four of my colleagues. And to start with, I had to show solidarity with them. The reasons they used, saying they've not been patriotic, basically -- they, Beijing -- has given some new definitions to patriotism.

13:33

Claudia looking out window

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  The mass resignations mean there’s no opposition in the city’s parliament. The Council is now totally under Beijing’s control.

14:01

Claudia's with colleagues

Farewelling Claudia Mo, three other LegCo members who were also forced out.

CLAUDIA MO: "Guys! This is a pilot."

PILOT: "Was! Was a pilot."

CLAUDIA: "And a medical doctor! And they got all – well, I wouldn’t say chucked out – you two were 'disqualified' by Beijing.

GUY IN BROWN JACKET: "We were the reason why Claudia has to resign."

14:15

Claudia looks at photos and rolls chair out of office

CLAUDIA:  "These are my old prints. This is the HSBC back in 1865, which I am going to bring. And of course I need to take this as well. So I will just roll this out… You'll have to excuse me now."

I was born and brought up in Hong Kong and I’m a Hong Kong person. I’m a Hong Konger through and through.

14:50

Claudia into lift

I never ever imagined Hong Kong would have come to this.

15:35

Security guards

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Beijing’s security services are firmly in control here now. Watching. Listening.  

15:58

Dapiran walking on street

Many Hong Kongers don’t dare say what they really think. One outsider still prepared to share his observations is Australian lawyer and author Antony Dapiran.

16:05

Dapiran climbs stairs

ANTONY DAPIRAN:  I'm a commentator and an analyst and a writer, but I don't think that anything that I do breaches the national security law.

16:17

Dapiran onto rooftop.

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  He’s lived here for 16 years, and before that, in Beijing, chronicling the uprising and the politics of his adopted home.

16:27

Skype interview

ANTONY DAPIRAN:  There’s a very strong sense, really, across an entire generation of Hong Kongers, that this is their fight, it’s a fight they strongly believe in. and I’m not sure that just jailing the key leaders or even the threat of jail for people who continue to participate will be enough to entirely dissuade them, and it certainly won’t win over their hearts and minds.

16:41

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Do you think the Chinese Government would want there to be an exodus of pro-democracy types? Or will it be kind of annoyed to see them go?

17:01

ANTONY DAPIRAN:  It’s long been part of the Beijing playbook to force leading dissidents, even from the mainland, into exile, where they quickly lose their relevance. They lose their connection back home, their message ceases to be communicated back to within China and they lose their potency as a threat to the Chinese Government.

17:13

HK view from harbour

Music

17:35

Max at harbour

17:39

MAX MOK:  I feel like this battle has been moved away from Hong Kong for some time now.

17:46

People onto ferries

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  In response to Beijing’s crackdown, about 300,000 Hong Kongers are expected to leave, most of them to the UK. And Max now faces a tough choice.  He inherited Australian citizenship from his father, who returned to Hong Kong years before he was born.  He can live in Australia after completing his studies, or take his chances here as an activist.

17:55

Max on ferry

Max decides to leave, to join the growing ranks of exiles campaigning against China from abroad.

MAX MOK:  As an Australian citizen, as a Hong Kong citizen, as a citizen of the world, it’s a responsibility to me to just continue this fight on other fronts as well, because Hong Kong is so grim now.

18:30

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  It’s a huge life-changing decision for a 20-year-old. And there’s no coming back.

18:55

MAX MOK:  It's not an easy choice to make, to leave your homeland. And honestly,

19:01

Max 100%

the weight of the issue hasn't quite set in yet. Having to leave a place that I've been so used to for the past 20 years. And weirdly enough, I feel a bit of excitement for the future, what it holds. Although the world's a bit chaotic here, I think this is the best chance we have now for striking for any sort of future for Hong Kong.

19:06

Nixie distributing face masks

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  But one young aspiring politician sees a bright future for herself in a new Hong Kong under tighter Communist control.  Today, Nixie Lam is out in the suburbs, near the mainland border, handing out COVID masks to her supporters. There are no young activists here.

19:35

Nixie 100%

NIXIE LAM:  So we were very worried about our situation last year, but this year is much better, especially after the national security law.

20:01

Pro-Beijing political party banners/Nixie distributing masks

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Following eight years of school and university in Australia, she joined Hong Kong’s biggest pro-Beijing political party. For her, the protest movement was dangerous.

NIXIE LAM: They're asking people to take revenge on me because I am pro-Government.

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  A former local district councillor, she was dumped by voters in a massive swing against pro-Beijing candidates at the last local elections.

20:07

NIXIE LAM:  All of the district councillors that’s running for the campaign, we actually bought the little vest to protect our bodies, just in case somebody, if they stab us, we’re not going to die.

20:35

Nixie campaign poster

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  But now, Nixie Lam’s convinced her political fortunes will change – thanks to the peace imposed by new national security law.

20:44

Nixie 100%. Skype interview

NIXIE LAM: I don’t think a lot of people actually read the details. It's only in four fields. It’s like secession, sedition, foreign interventions and terrorism. You can still do protests, you can say your views online and do your pages. Whatever, you can still do that. Just don’t say you want Hong Kong independence and do some actual movements or accept foreign monies to try to promote things like that. Then you’ll be totally fine.

20:54

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  And there’s no sympathy for jailed prominent activists like Joshua Wong.

21:22

NIXIE LAM:  They’re famous not because they’re activist leaders in Hong Kong. They’re famous because if you ask anyone, 'Who’s the biggest traitor of Hong Kong?' they will give you those names.

21:27

Light rail

21:38

Max on light rail to shopping mall

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Max is tipped off about a protest at an upmarket shopping mall. Some Hong Kongers are still prepared to risk jail through extraordinary acts of defiance.

21:43

Man protests in shopping mall

MAN:  "Liberate Hong Kong!"

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Just one man, with what now is an illegal message.

MAN:  "Hong Kong Independence!"

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  It’s a far cry from the millions of protestors who once took to the streets.

22:04

Riot police arrive

With Max and a friend recording on phones, heavily armed riot police move in.

22:19

MAX MOK:  Most protests are organised online. The police having the same internet access that we do, they can pre-emptively plan and pre-emptively strike on potential protesters. So it’s become a lot harder to organise anything, because the police will already be there.

22:28

POLICEMAN: "I order all of you to disperse peacefully!"

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Police insist ‘nothing to see here’, demanding that shoppers leave, to comply with COVID social distancing rules.

POLICEMAN: "To all citizens gathering here, this is a warning from the police.

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  But the banner conveys the real threat, warning protestors they may be committing acts of secession or subversion under the new national security law.

22:46

Plainclothes mainland security agents, now based in Hong Kong, help police investigate these ‘political’ crimes.  Anyone charged under the new national security law can now be tried in mainland China.

23:14

Apartment block. Night

Music

23:29

Max at ancestor shrine

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Hong Kong’s struggle is splitting many families along generational lines.

23:40

MAX MOK:  Some members of my family would say that this is me throwing my life away. I know that my family doesn’t necessarily support the views that I have. I’ve never tried to convert them, and the only thing that I ask is that they shouldn't interfere or try to convert me either.

23:50

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Max says his father and grandparents support the Government. At times, he fears them more than the police. Like many in the older generation, they abhor the protestor tactics, placing peace and prosperity ahead of political freedoms.

24:09

MAX MOK:  I am the problem. People like me, my generation is the problem of Hong Kong. We are trying to secede Hong Kong from China, we are rioters, we are brainwashed by the West. We are terrorists, basically, to them. So I’ve been storing

24:28

Max 100%

my protest equipment at home. And those kind of things is risky to have around me, and I’ve always been living on the edge, thinking that my family might somehow find it and then turn me into the police. And this fear was confirmed very early on, when my brother used to tell me that my father would, in my absence, talk about how he would arrest me, and how I would do better if I spend 10 years behind bars, things like that.

24:46

HK streets. Night. Max walks

Music

25:23

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Max feels trapped. COVID has now shut down nearly all international flights. By talking to us, Max risks arrest and jail under the national security law. We agree to help him get a seat on the increasingly scarce flights out of Hong Kong.

25:38

MAX MOK:  This is the only thing I think about now, these couple of weeks, is whether or not I'll be able to leave Hong Kong before something goes down, before it's too late.

25:58

Drone shot. HK high-rise. Night.

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  On the dawn of Max’s departure, the net dramatically tightens, as Beijing takes down the remaining leadership of the pro-democracy movement.

NEWSREADER: "Police arrested more than 50 people in a sweeping crackdown on pro-democracy figures in the city for allegedly violating the national security law."

26:11

News footage of arrests

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Hong Kong’s government, on Beijing’s orders, sends a thousand police officers on raids across the city.

26:35

Claudia at window/With colleagues

Former politician Claudia Mo is taken away along with her three ex LegCo colleagues we filmed on the day she packed up her office. All of them under investigation for the new crime of political subversion.

27:02

View of HK from Peak

Music

27:19

Max loads suitcase into car. Into car, drive to airport

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  With the leadership gone, Max fears he’s now in Beijing’s sights. He knows he has to leave fast.

27:26

MAX MOK:  The top emotions are fear, and lots of stress. I’m scared, regardless – because of the arrests this morning -- it’s also fear of leaving this place, leaving everything behind.

27-39

Just looking at myself, there’s a fair bit of survivor's guilt. I shouldn’t be the one to be able to get away. I’m not qualified enough to carry this onwards. It is foolish of me to think I am the only one who is bearing this burden -- me and I know now many others like me -- and for as long as there are Hong Kongers, there will be more people like me.

27:50

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Max vows to continue the fight, and accepts he may never see his home city again.

28:17

MAX MOK:  People that decide to go on this road have given up 20, 30 years of their life in exchange for this one shot at trying to save our homeland.

28:24

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  Max will now have to make a life in Australia, away from his family.

28:36

Max at airport

Music

28:48

MAX MOK:  I can’t say for sure what I’m going to feel when I land.  I think, rather than hope or rather than relief, there’s a lot more pressure.  It’s like, if I can’t make this work, then I will have made the worst decision in my life that I could have possibly made.

BILL BIRTLES, Reporter:  But he’s made his choice – a one-way ticket to a life of exile, from a Hong Kong he now barely recognises. 

28:56

Credits [see below]

29:27

Intertitle: The Hong Kong crew asked not to be identified.

29:39

Outpoint

29:46