Before the mass protests in Hong Kong two years ago, China already knew there was an enormous gap between Beijing authorities and the young people in the city. The freedom generation, with famous young activists like Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Nathan Law, swarmed onto the streets of Hong Kong in 2014 to protest against Beijing's decision to withhold Hong Kong's universal suffrage.
As Beijing tightened its grip on the city through the new national security law introduced last year, the gap grew. A survey by the Hong Kong Public Research Institute in December last year found that among its respondents aged 18 to 29, only 4 per cent considered themselves Chinese Nationals.
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