2019 in Hong Kong explained

Events in the year 2019 in Hong Kong.

Incumbents

Executive branch

• Chief Executive: Carrie Lam
  • Chief Secretary for Administration: Matthew Cheung
  • Financial Secretary: Paul Mo-po Chan
  • Secretary for Justice: Teresa Cheng

Legislative branch

• President of the Legislative Council: Andrew Leung

Judicial branch

• Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal: Geoffrey Ma

Events

• 29 March – the Government gazettes the extradition bill.^[1]
• 9 April – Nine defendants, including Benny Tai, were convicted for occupying Central in 2014.^[2]
• mid-April – Scandal between Andy Hui and Jacqueline Wong broke
• 9 June – Over 1 million people in Hong Kong protest against proposed legislation regarding extradition to mainland China. It is the largest protest in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover.^[3]
• 12 June – June 12, 2019 Hong Kong protest: The Hong Kong government and police controversially declare that the protest has "turned into a riot".^{[4] [5] [6]}
• 15 June – Hong Kong government announces it will indefinitely suspend the controversial extradition bill, but protests continue, this time calling for the total withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.^[7]
• 16 June – Despite bill suspension on June 15 2019, nearly 2 million people gather in Victoria Square demanding the legislation be withdrawn. If the organizers numbers are confirmed, this is the largest protest ever. Police say turnout was 338,000 at its peak. (BBC News)
• 17 June – Joshua Wong released from prison.^[8]
• 1 July – Protesters stormed LegCo.
• 21 July – After the Yuen Long attack, no arrest were made by the police upon investigation at a nearby village that night.^[9]
• 5 August – Amid ongoing protests, Hong Kong is hit by the first general strikes of their kind since 1967.^[10]
• 12 August – Hong Kong International Airport is closed due to protests.
• 15 August – Benny Tai released on bail.^[11]
• 22 August – Protests enter their 12th week as police reintroduced water-cannons and tear gas.
• 31 August – The raptors stormed Prince Edward station, the police arrested 65 people.^[12]
• 4 September – Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces the official withdrawal of the controversial Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, and setting up of an independent study to probe social and economic inequality within the territory.^[13]
• 22 September – Chan Yin-lam's cadaver, floating in the sea, was recovered by Marine Police.^[14]
• 4 October – Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the Chief Executive in Council invokes the Emergency Regulations Ordinance and banning the face mask in public gatherings with immediate effect.^[15]
• 5 October – The Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation begins.
• 10 October – Chan Yin-lam cremated.^[14]
• 23 October – Chan Tong-kai released from prison.^[16]
• 4 November – Chow Tsz-lok, who fell from height, died.^[17]
• 11 November – The conflict at Chinese University begins.
• 13 November – The Chinese University of Hong Kong officially announces a premature end to the semester as a result of large-scale protests and civil unrest. Besides CUHK, several Hong Kong universities switch to online learning and suspend on-campus class. The Education Bureau in Hong Kong officially announces to close all schools in Hong Kong due to the ongoing protests.
• 24 November – In the 2019 Hong Kong local elections, The pro-democracy camp achieved its biggest landslide victory in the history of Hong Kong, gaining control of 17 of the 18 District Councils and tripling their seats from around 124 to about 388.
• 27 November – United States signs Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that requires the U.S. government to impose sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
• 29 November – As the siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University ends,^[18] the University takes back the control of the campus.^[19]

Deaths

• 3 January – Michael Yeung, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (b. 1945).^[20]
• 12 January – Patrick Yu, barrister, Hong Kong's first Chinese prosecutor (b. 1922).^[21]
• 11 March – Peter Wong Man-kong, shipping magnate and politician (b. 1949).^[22]

See also

• List of Hong Kong films of 2019

Notes and References

1. Web site: 政府回應近期社會事件：背景 . Information Service Department of the HKSAR Government . 1 June 2020 . 3 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191203132411/https://www.isd.gov.hk/response2019/chi/background.html . dead .
2. Web site: PRESS SUMMARY . Legal Reference System – Judgments.
3. News: Over a million attend Hong Kong demo against controversial extradition law, organisers say. June 9, 2019. Hong Kong Free Press. December 7, 2023. June 9, 2019. https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20190609191220/https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/09/just-no-china-extradition-tens-thousands-hong-kong-protest-controversial-new-law/. live.
4. News: Hong Kong protests over China extradition bill. June 13, 2019. CNN. December 7, 2023. January 13, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113002010/https://edition.cnn.com/asia/live-news/hong-kong-protests-june-12-intl-hnk/index.html. live.
5. Web site: Hong Kong police declare China extradition protest 'a riot' as rubber bullets and tear gas fired at crowd. June 12, 2019. CNN. June 12, 2019. June 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190612055957/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/12/asia/hk-protests-extradition-intl-hnk/index.html. live.
6. News: Hong Kong police fire rubber bullets as extradition bill protests turn to chaos. Reuters. June 12, 2019. June 12, 2019. Jim. James Pomfret. June 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190612083615/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-extradition/hong-kong-police-fire-rubber-bullets-as-protests-turn-to-violent-chaos-idUSKCN1TC1WR. live.
7. News: Hong Kong extradition bill: Hundreds of thousands join third huge protest in a week. James Griffiths, Helen Regan and Eric Cheung. CNN. June 16, 2019. June 17, 2019. June 16, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190616215517/https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/16/asia/hong-kong-protest-carrie-lam-china-extradition-intl-hnk/index.html. live.
8. Web site: Hong Kong's Joshua Wong to be released from prison on Monday, party says. 17 June 2019.
9. News: 警指南邊圍村無人持武無拘捕人 . 2 July 2019. The Cable News . 22 July 2019 . zh-HK . https://web.archive.org/web/20190915073223/http://cablenews.i-cable.com/ci/videopage/news/553105/%E5%8D%B3%E6%99%82%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/%E8%AD%A6%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97%E9%82%8A%E5%9C%8D%E6%9D%91%E7%84%A1%E4%BA%BA%E6%8C%81%E6%AD%A6%E7%84%A1%E6%8B%98%E6%8D%95%E4%BA%BA . 15 September 2019.
10. News: Flights canceled, major roads blocked as Hong Kong protests escalate. August 5, 2019. CNN. August 6, 2019. August 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190806055121/https://edition.cnn.com/asia/live-news/hong-kong-strike-protest-intl-hnk/index.html. live.
11. News: Court grants bail to Occupy leader Benny Tai . 15 August 2019 . RTHK. 15 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190815051056/https://gbcode.rthk.hk/TuniS/news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1474801-20190815.htm. dead.
12. News: https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e8%a6%81%e8%81%9e/article/20191101/s00001/1572546316053/8-31%e8%a2%ab%e6%8d%9565%e4%ba%ba-%e6%9a%ab%e7%84%a1%e4%ba%ba%e6%8e%a7%e9%9d%9e%e6%b3%95%e9%9b%86%e7%b5%90. zh:8‧31被捕65人 暫無人控非法集結. 1 November 2019. 1 November 2019. Ming Pao. Hong Kong. Media Chinese International. zh-hk. https://web.archive.org/web/20191101140214/https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e8%a6%81%e8%81%9e/article/20191101/s00001/1572546316053/8-31%e8%a2%ab%e6%8d%9565%e4%ba%ba-%e6%9a%ab%e7%84%a1%e4%ba%ba%e6%8e%a7%e9%9d%9e%e6%b3%95%e9%9b%86%e7%b5%90. 1 November 2019. live.
13. Web site: CE announces formal withdrawal of extradition bill. RTHK Hong Kong. September 4, 2019. September 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190904105310/https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1478782-20190904.htm. live.
14. Web site: 15歲少女泳將變浮屍 港警堅稱自殺 – 國際 – 自由時報電子報. 12 October 2019. Liberty Times. 12 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20191014131041/https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/paper/1324258. 14 October 2019. live.
15. Web site: Anti-mask law to take effect from midnight. October 4, 2019. RTHK. October 4, 2019. October 5, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191005132412/https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1484223-20191004.htm. live.
16. Web site: Hong Kong murder suspect whose case sparked protest crisis released from jail. 23 October 2019. South China Morning Post. 1 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191023011321/https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3034128/hong-kong-murder-suspect-chan-tong-kai-who-triggered. 23 October 2019. live.
17. Clare Jim; Jessie Pang, Hong Kong mourning for student spirals into street violence . 8 November 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2021
18. News: Hong Kong police end campus siege. 29 November 2019. The Japan Times. 1 June 2020. 0447-5763. https://web.archive.org/web/20191203113828/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/11/29/asia-pacific/hong-kong-university-reopen/. 3 December 2019. live.
19. News: 理大今日正式解封 限校方授權人士進入 . 1 June 2020 . 香港商報網 . 2 November 2019.
20. Web site: Hong Kong Catholic Bishop Michael Yeung dies at 73 . Hong Kong Free Press . 3 January 2019 . 23 January 2019 .
21. Web site: Tributes flow for Hong Kong's first Chinese prosecutor Patrick Yu, after death at 96 . South China Morning Post . 16 January 2019 . 23 January 2019 .
22. Web site: Veteran Hong Kong deputy to National People's Congress Peter Wong Man-kong dies at age 70 . 12 March 2019 . 12 March 2019 . 12 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190312015954/https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3001157/veteran-hong-kong-deputy-national-peoples-congress-peter . live .