ABSTRACT
In the post-handover years, Hong Kong was inflamed by social discontent. Rallies and marches emerged with a breathtaking frequency unseen in the history of Hong Kong. Waves of protests first appeared as Hong Kong’s economy dived into negative territory between 1999 and 2000. During that period, those who appeared unlikely to be social activists suddenly found demonstrating to be a convenient method for airing their grievances. For example, over one thousand doctors staged a protest against the government’s revamp of the medical professionals’ grading structure. Social welfare workers marched on the street to protest the government’s decision to change the financing system of non-government organizations. Two thousand property owners rallied to vent their anger over asset depletion. Residents rallied to protest against the government’s urban renewal plans. Students and mainlanders jointly marched against the ruling of the Standing Committee of the NPC on the right-of-abode case.2 In these rallies, protesters blamed Tung for the problems, and chanted ‘Down with Tung’ as the solution to the issues that concerned them.3 Tung’s return to office for a second term in 2002 was greeted with an even larger scale of social disturbance. A huge rally amassed in July 2003 over the issue of anti-subversion legislation , and similar protests calling for universal suffrage continued to arise, albeit with fewer followers, in subsequent years. It was not until the beginning of 2006 that the momentum of social unrest began to lose steam.
