For a Free Future | Young Hong Kongers Rise Up | DW | 2019

After months of demonstrations, Hong Kong’s protest movement has grown to the point where almost a quarter of the population has flooded the streets. At the outbreak of the upheaval, DW met up with17-year-old Zack Ho, who was in the middle of his final exams. But Hong Kong’s future is so important to him that he was spending most of his time on the street.

Zack, a high school student, is one of hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers taking to the streets to protest against a proposed extradition bill. It’s highly controversial because it would increase Beijing’s influence in the Special Administrative Region. Anyone who caused trouble here could be extradited to mainland China. Compared to the rest of China, Hong Kong has greater political autonomy and its residents enjoy more freedoms. And Zack Ho says things should stay that way. While the Hong Kong government has now put the extradition bill on hold and its leader, Carrie Lam, has even issued a public apology, the demonstrators still aren’t satisfied. They’re demanding that Lam resign and the extradition bill be withdrawn entirely. A report by Mathias Bölinger and Phoebe Kong.

We met Zack again half a year later. Here’s what has changed for him in in these 6 months that have transformed Hong Kong: https://p.dw.com/p/3WYyy