1/ The answer to the question of violence and nonviolence depends on a government’s response. Hongkongers have used the most peaceful ways possible to call for change. 2 million citizens took to the street to demand political reforms.

2/ 200000 demonstrators formed the 25-mile ‘HK Way”’across the city. People lit up the city’s mountaintops with protest demands. But Beijing will not listen, and instead suppresses protestors – be they children, elderly, pregnant women, journalists – with police brutality.

3/ It is understandable, then, that tensions escalate. It is my belief, however, that all those clashes could have been avoided by – and the political dilemma can only be resolved with – genuine political reform. The democratisation experiences of South Korea & Taiwan echo this.

4/ Before universal suffrage, protesters used both violent and nonviolent action in their cause. Afterwards, the use of violence vanished. This is because democracy is the only way for people to see hope in the system.

5/ Standing with Hong Kong: An Interview with Joshua Wong, authors of #UnfreeSpeech, discuss free speech in Hong Kong, coronavirus, and the role of literature in campaigning for global democracy: http://pentransmissions.com/2020/03/31/sta …

More about my book: http://hyperurl.co/unfreespeech