logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2022
9m 2s

Hong Kong: Democracy campaigner

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In 1997 Hong Kong was handed back to China after more than 150 years of British rule. There were ceremonies and fireworks to celebrate the end of colonialism - but some residents were not happy. Emily Lau was a leading democracy campaigner at the time and tells Mike Gallagher about that day.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Up next
Yesterday
Creating CAPTCHA
In 2000, as the internet expanded, websites faced a growing challenge to stop spam bots from flooding their systems.To separate humans from machines, researchers at the United States’ Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, created the Completely Automated Public ... Show More
10m 7s
Aug 25
The creation of the International Criminal Court
In 1998, at a conference organised by the United Nations, a blueprint was devised for what would be the world's first permanent International Criminal Court.Judge Phillipe Kirsch chaired the Rome conference that led to the formation of the court. He tells Gill Kearsley about the ... Show More
10m 23s
Aug 22
Geneva Conventions
In 1859, Swiss businessman Henry Dunant witnessed the Battle of Solferino, in Italy. He couldn’t believe the lack of aid for the wounded soldiers and came up with two ideas – a voluntary aid organisation and an international treaty to protect those injured in wartime. They went o ... Show More
10m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2022
Hong Kong: 25 years since the handover from British to Chinese rule
Stories from Hong Kong, 25 years on since the handover from British to Chinese rule. We hear from the last governor of Hong Kong, a pro democracy campaigner and about life in Kowloon Walled City. (Photo: Chris Patten at the handover ceremony of Hong Kong from Britain to China. Cr ... Show More
51m 3s
May 2020
Hong Kong
Last week, the Chinese government made the latest and perhaps the most serious move yet to crack down on Hong Kong's semi-autonomy. It's just the latest such effort by Beijing in the decades-long tensions between China and Hong Kong and it seems to take advantage of the quarantin ... Show More
43m 43s
Oct 2019
A Borrowed Time
Over the past six months, demonstrations in Hong Kong have increasingly become more violent and more determined. What started out as a protest against a proposed extradition law has now become a call for China to recognize Hong Kong's semi-autonomy. But what is at the root of thi ... Show More
42m 20s
Jun 2020
Simon Cheng: 'We need to fight for democracy in Hong Kong and China'
One year ago, pro-democracy street protests began in Hong Kong. At the time, Simon Cheng was an employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong. Last August, he was arrested in mainland China and, he says, interrogated and physically abused. A year on, Mr Cheng is seeking asylum i ... Show More
23m 27s
Aug 2022
The Hongkongers leaving for the UK
In 2020, after months of civil unrest, China introduced a new security law in Hong Kong. The UK authorities said it 'violated' the one country, two systems principle established after the former colony was handed back to China in 1997. In response the UK has expanded the British ... Show More
17m 29s
Jan 2024
Regina Ip: What is Hong Kong's future?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Regina Ip, an influential pro-Beijing lawmaker in Hong Kong. For years China has been tightening its grip on the territory it took back from Britain. Pro-democracy activism, political opposition and press freedom have all been curtailed. So what is Hong K ... Show More
23m 33s
Aug 2023
Nathan Law: Has China eradicated dissent in Hong Kong?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Nathan Law, the exiled Hong Kong democracy activist who’s now a wanted man with a million-dollar bounty on his head from the territory’s Beijing-backed authorities. Has China’s systematic repression effectively eradicated dissent in Hong Kong? 
23m 28s