The moment mainland Chinese student Susan Li stepped into the sea of protesters in Hong Kong, chanting slogans like everyone else, she was overwhelmed. “It was the first time I felt I had integrated into the city. In the past, I did not consider Hong Kong my home,” says the 20-year-old University of Hong Kong (HKU) student, who was attending the first protest in her life.
That was on June 9, when organisers said more than a million people took to the streets against the government’s now-shelved extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be transferred to the mainland, among other places. “For the first time, I felt that even though I was from the mainland, I was with you, the people of Hong Kong,” says Li, who has been in the city for three years. “No matter where we were from, we all wanted the government to withdraw the bill. We were all equal.”
That was on June 9, when organisers said more than a million people took to the streets against the government’s now-shelved extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be transferred to the mainland, among other places. “For the first time, I felt that even though I was from the mainland, I was with you, the people of Hong Kong,” says Li, who has been in the city for three years. “No matter where we were from, we all wanted the government to withdraw the bill. We were all equal.”
