Umbrella is a new, comprehensive, 600-page account of Hong Kong’s 2014 pro-democracy Occupy movement, by HKFP columnist Kong Tsung-gan.
And thanks to the generosity of the author, Hong Kong residents can receive a hard copy in the post if you make a HK$200 minimum donation to Hong Kong Free Press.
HKFP will keep all of the donation, which will go towards our move to a new office.
The book places the Occupy protests within the context of Hong Kong’s relationship with China, the history of local democratic movements, and developments with nonviolent struggles elsewhere in the world. What triggered the 79-day demonstrations? Why did they last so long? What were they fighting for? And what was achieved?
Update: This offer has now expired after over-whelming demand. Readers may still purchase a copy from Amazon.
“The tale is divided into five parts: 1) how the occupations began; 2) their immediate and historical backgrounds; 3) the occupations themselves; 4) the period after the occupations and up to the defeat of the fake universal suffrage plan of the Chinese and HK governments in June 2015; and 5) an assessment of the movement, an overview of the many rapidly occurring developments in its wake, and a discussion of the outlook for democracy and self-determination in Hong Kong.
Told from a pro-democracy perspective, in solidarity with the millions of Hong Kong people who have fought for their civil and political rights down through the years, Umbrella also looks critically at the limitations, weaknesses and errors of the movement while portraying the Chinese Communist Party as implacably hostile to popular sovereignty and the Hong Kong government and elites as its accomplices. The global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism will determine the direction of the world over the coming decades. Hong Kong is part of that struggle.
Kong Tsung-gan is a writer, educator and activist who participated in the Umbrella Movement. Based in Hong Kong, he has lived and worked in China, amongst Tibetans in India, and in a dozen other places in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Umbrella combines his knowledge of Hong Kong with his global perspective.
The five part political tale will be yours to keep with a HK$200 contribution to HKFP.
For donation T&C’s, click here. For more on why to support HKFP, click here.
