Lately, I’ve been accused of being biased purely because my bio uses “riots” to describe what happened in HK in 2019. Having stayed in HK throughout the entire 7 month protest period, I want to recount what I experienced during those months and why I came to this conclusion. 1/n

During those months, the typical weekend schedule was: 1) Wake up and check where potential protest hotspots will be, so as to avoid those areas; 2) Must complete all shopping and outings b4 3pm, because protests will evolve unpredictably and may have trouble getting back. 2/n

3) Once home, will typically turn on TV, where various channels are streaming the protests live (e.g. RTHK, TVB), as well as follow live text coverage on various online news pages, particularly SCMP. Watching the protest streams became a family activity on weekends. 3/n

From these live-streams, the typical protest would evolve like this: 1) Start with roads blocked by makeshift barricades (e.g. bins, road signs, bus stop signs, roadside fencing etc.) and police either not immediately present or just watching from a distance. 4/n

2) For the next few hours, there will mostly be standoffs, but some will commit violent acts, such as damaging shops considered “pro-China”, smashing MTR stations, fights with people who disapprove (usually ganging up on 1). The police typically do not act to prevent damage. 5/n

3) As night falls, and after many hours of paralyzed roads and damage to public property, police try to clear the crowds, first using verbally, then with signs. This would not typically have any impact, and crowds would get more abusive to police, daring them to use force. 6/n

4) Then there would be a process of escalation from both sides. Protestors would light objects on fire, throw petrol bombs, use sling shots etc. Police would respond with baton charges, tear gas, even rubber bullets depending on how violent things got. Water cannon was rare. 7/n

Besides witnessing violence via live TV, I also witnessed the violence first hand, when I saw a stand-off between police and protestors at my local shopping centre. The police kept their distance, but the protestors were throwing objects at them. 8/n

The protestors also turned universities into petrol bomb factories and even blocked off access to HK Baptist hospital one time, which caused major inconveniences to me and my family. Indeed, it was a constant worry whether essential services will be available when needed. 9/n

All these acts were well beyond what can be considered "peaceful protests". You may say this is a small price to pay for “democracy”. But, by responding to disapproval with violence, even after they achieved their initial stated goal of withdrawal of extradition bill,...10/n

the protestors morphed into the very thing that they say they opposed, tyranny, and became rioters in my view. They claimed their voices were being muffled, even though the protests succeeded in forcing the govt to change policies, and whilst they muffled their opposition. 11/n

Also, besides being anti-China, I have not heard 1 politician or student leader propose anything that will actually improve HK. Do they expect things to magically improve when HK becomes a full democracy? These are reasons why I consider them riots, not genuine protests. 12/n

On the Western media, they completely dropped the ball in reporting objectively on what was happening. The “fight for democracy” line was accepted and propagated without question, even though non-democratic methods were increasingly used by protestors with no logical purpose.13/n

There was limited coverage of the violence of protestors, and if it exists, it was usually with excuses for their actions. "Police violence" was reported without fail and not in the context that it was in response to prolonged paralysis of roads and violence from protestors. 14/n

Interviews were common, but they typically only talked to protestors, and their words were treated as gospel. The protests were said to be mostly peaceful, which was accurate only because the peaceful parts were 5 hours out of 7, with the remaining 2 hours full of violence. 15/n

No one bothered to ask the protestors some simple questions. If HK became a democracy tomorrow, what policies are needed to improve people's lives? Why would you refuse to cooperate with a government that has built a neighbouring megacity, Shenzhen, from nothing in 40 years? 16/n

If the CPC allowed Macau to grow their GDP per capita to one of the highest in the world, by doing something that’s completely banned in mainland China, why would you assume they will not allow HK the freedom to develop in its own way? If the wealth gap was a main driver...17/n

...of frustrations in HK, then wouldn't a socialist/communist government be ideal to address this imbalance? The only way to explain their reporting was that they were pushing an agenda, was reveling in the chaos and had no interest in the truth. Hence, my loss of faith. 18/n

Above summarizes my thoughts and experiences. I welcome any comments from people, whether you had similar experiences or not. /end