Monday marked the end of the third straight month in Hong Kong's "summer of protest."
A controversial China extradition bill first lit the match of anger that has now exploded into million-person marches, and the "five demands" made by the pro-democracy movement.
To put things into perspective for us, joining me live via skype from Hong Kong is Dr. Victor Teo, Professor at the University of Hong Kong.
Victor, welcome to the program
After months of protests and unrest in Hong Kong, we saw a stunning U-turn by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in officially withdrawing the controversial extradition bill.
There are plenty of wild speculation. Was this a concession from the Hong Kong government or Beijing? Or was it a strategic adjustment paving the way for tougher action if the chaos continued?
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the anti-government protests in Hong Kong were "not an internal" Chinese matter and that the U.S. should offer at least moral support to the demonstrators. Political analysts suggest his response was muted to avoid disrupting talks with China over their tariff war. What are your thoughts on that?
The protests in Hong Kong were sparked by the government's introduction of an extradition bill to mainland China. Despite its announcement of withdrawal, the protests continue. A little over twenty years since Britain's return of Hong Kong to China and the beginning of One country, two systems, do you believe this is the beginning of something bigger... a bigger demand by the people of Hong Kong.. the breakdown of one country, two systems, perhaps?
