On the wall of the League of Social Democrats office, the Chinese characters for freedom are spelt out with court admission slips.
Members of the party take turns speaking into a microphone connected to a loudspeaker. They stand in front of a banner that reads “rather be ashes than dust”, written in Chinese. Founded close to 20 years ago, the party is known as the last protest group in Hong Kong.
“The red lines are now everywhere,” Chan Po Ying, the chair of the party, tells the BBC. “Our decision to disband was because we were facing a lot of pressure.”
Under Britain, Hong Kong was a literal bourgeois democracy. Like not as in “the capitalists are really in control”, but “only 18 of the 59 seats weren’t appointed by major companies, representatives of the crown, or the governor”. Hong Kong has only known anything remotely close to democracy under China.
Lot of bruised western egos down voting you right now.