The period from March to June 2019 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests is considered the early stage of the movement. Until the first mass demonstrations in June, protests were focused on the withdrawal of the extradition bill. In June, protesters started to lay out five demands. The additional four demands concerned the reactions of the Hong Kong government and especially, the police to the protests, and called more broadly for full democracy in the city.
The first protest against the bill took place on 15 March. Two subsequent protests on 31 March and 28 April witnessed a sharp increase in the number of attendants, which the organisers claimed as 130,000 for the 28 April protest. As the Hong Kong government around Chief Executive Carrie Lam pushed for a speedy second reading of the bill, the protests dramatically increased in size, with estimates of protester numbers being over one million for the protests on 9 June, and up to two million – more than a quarter of the city's population – for those on 16 June. By that time, protests had started to change their focus to include the alleged excessive use of violence by police against protesters, which had marred the late-night end of the 9 June protest, and which was drawing further international attention during the 12 June siege of the Legislative Council Building by the protesters. On that day, the protesters achieved a partial success when the second reading of the bill was halted indefinitely. The full reversal of the police characterisation of the 12 June violence as "riots" would become one of the five demands.
Protesters also tried to draw international attention to their cause by protesting on occasion of the G20 summit in Osaka at the end of the month. The city would see further increases in protest activity and the violence levels at the annual 1 July march when the Legislative Council building was stormed by protesters, and in the following several months.
Prelude
Before 31 March Before the first large-scale demonstration (in terms of numbers) took place on 31 March, Demosistō held a sit-in protest event at the Central Government Complex on 15 March.
31 March demonstration The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), a platform for 50 pro-democracy groups, launched its first protest march against the bill on 31 March, from Southorn Playground in Wan Chai to the Central Government Complex in Admiralty. Claudia Mo, pro-democracy camp's convener, and Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books who had been kidnapped by Chinese agents in 2015, led the rally. High-profile democracy activists, like Cardinal Joseph Zen, barristers Martin Lee and Margaret Ng, and Apple Daily owner Jimmy Lai, also attended the rally. Organisers claimed 12,000 people took part in the march, while police put the peak figure at 5,200.
28 April march
The second protest march against the extradition bill began at East Point Road, Causeway Bay and headed to the Legislative Council in Admiralty. The march lasted over four hours. While police estimated 22,800 protesters, organisers claimed 130,000 participants. The latter figure was the highest since the estimated 510,000 that organisers claimed joined the annual 1 July protest in 2014.
The next day, Chief Executive Carrie Lam remained adamant that the bill would be enacted and said the Legislative councillors had to pass the new extradition laws before their summer break. Lam said Chan Tong-kai, the suspect in the Murder of Poon Hiu-wing, could be out of prison by October, hence the urgency of passing the extradition bill. Although Chan received a prison sentence on 29 April, Secretary for Security John Lee expected that Chan could be free to leave Hong Kong early for good behaviour.
May
On 4 May, a rally was held in a demonstration area outside the Legislative Council. About 300 people attended the rally in support of the democrats. While the democrats received vocal support in the chants, members of the pro-establishment camp were booed.
On the evening of 10 May, rallies in the Legislative Council in opposition to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance amendment and in solidarity with an overnight stay in the conference room of the Legislative Council pro-democracy members, about 1,000 people attended. On 11 May, a fight broke out in Hong Kong's legislature on Saturday as pro-democracy lawmakers and those loyal to China discussed the extradition law that would extend Beijing's powers over the financial hub.
On the evening of 13 May, the FDC and demonstrators stayed outside the Legislative Council overnight. There were 30 members of the public in solidarity with the democrats. There was a quarrel with security.
4–5 June Hilltop vertical protest banners Hong Kong is one of a few places that still commemorate those who died in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. On the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, someone put a yellow "Dare Not Forget June Fourth" (「毋忘六四」) vertical protest banner over Beacon Hill.
The day after the "Never Forget June Fourth" banner, yet another 15-meter vertical protest banner was erected over Devil's Peak. This banner stated in Chinese "Lam Sold Hong Kong; Resign!" (「林鄭賣港下台！」) in black font over yellow fabric.
6 June lawyers' silent march/Before protest
Legal professionals concerned about the extradition bill also staged a silent march on 6 June. In black attire, lawyers, legal academics and law students marched from the Court of Final Appeal to the Central Government Offices. Dennis Kwok, Legislative Councillor for the Legal constituency, and Martin Lee and Denis Chang, two former Hong Kong Bar Association chairmen, led the march. The group of lawyers stood silently in front of government headquarters for three minutes. Kwok said, "We shall not bow our heads [to the government]". More than 3,000 lawyers, representing around one-quarter of the city's legal professionals, attended the march – the fifth and largest protest march held by lawyers in Hong Kong since 1997.
While the protesting lawyers expressed reservations about openness and fairness of the justice system in China, Secretary Lee had previously said the legal sector did not really understand the bill and some had not read the bill before protesting.
A 50-meter yellow vertical banner was seen on Lion Rock displaying in black font "No Extradition To PR China" and its Chinese equivalent, 「反送中」.
Tensions heightened 9 June protest Daytime rally
Before the government tabled the extradition bill's second reading in the Legislative Council on 12 June, the CHRF had called Hong Kong people to march against the bill on 9 June through an approximately 3 km (1.86 mi) route from Victoria Park to the Legislative Council in Admiralty.
Police ordered MTR to bypass Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Tin Hau stations for several hours. Protesters exited at Fortress Hill to join the protest. Police urged protesters to start off before the official 3 pm start-time to ease overcrowding; police were forced to open up all lanes on Hennessy Road, having previously refused to do so. A significant number of protesters were still leaving Victoria Park up to four hours after the start time, and were still arriving at the end-point at 10 pm.
Reports suggested it could have been the largest ever, and certainly the largest protest Hong Kong has seen since the 1997 handover, surpassing the turnout seen at mass rallies in support of the Tiananmen protests of 1989 and 1 July demonstration of 2003. CHRF convenor Jimmy Sham said that 1.03 million people attended the march, while the police put the crowd at 240,000 at its peak.
Night-time clashes Hundreds of protesters camped in front of the government headquarters well into the night, with more joining them in response to calls from Demosistō and pro-independence activists. Police formed a human chain to prevent protesters from entering Harcourt Road, the main road next to government headquarters, while Special Tactical Squad (STS) was on standby. Although the CHRF had officially called an end to the march at 10 pm, around 100 protesters remained at Civic Square.
At 11 pm, the government issued a press statement, saying it "acknowledge[s] and respect[s] that people have different views on a wide range of issues", but insisted the second reading debate on the bill would resume on 12 June. In response, several members of Demosistō staged a sit-in outside the Legislative Council Complex demanding a dialogue with Lam and Lee, while pro-independence groups Student Localism and the Students Independent Union, called for escalating protest actions if the government failed to withdraw the bill.
Around midnight, when a permission of protesters expired, police moved in to clear protesters who had planned to stay outside the Central Government Complex until 12 June. Tensions escalated and clashes broke out between protesters and officers at the Legislative Council Complex. Protesters threw bottles and metal barricades at police and pushed barricades while officers responded with pepper spray. Riot police pushed back against the crowd and secured the area, while police on Harcourt Road also pushed protesters back onto the pavements. Clashes shifted to Lung Wo Road as many protesters gathered and barricaded themselves from the officers. Several hundred protesters were herded by officers towards Lung King Street in Wan Chai around 2 am and then into Gloucester Road. Police hemmed in the last pockets of protesters in the early morning outside the old Wan Chai police station. By the end of the clearance, 19 protesters had been arrested while 358, who had been corralled along the wall of the Old Wan Chai Police Station by a large number of officers, had their profiles recorded; 80 per cent of them were younger than 25.
The next morning, Lam refused to withdraw the bill but acknowledged that the sizeable rally showed there were "clearly still concerns" over the bill. Pressed about whether she would resign, she asserted it was important to have a stable governing team "when our economy is going to undergo some very severe challenges because of external uncertainties."
12 June – strike and siege of LegCo
A general strike had been called for 12 June, the day of the planned resumption of the second reading of the extradition bill. The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) appealed to workers to join the protest; hundreds of businesses closed for the day and numerous workers went on strike. Protesters attempted to stall the second reading of the extradition bill.
Around 8 am, the crowd rushed onto Harcourt Road, blocking traffic. Lung Wo Road and surrounding streets were also blocked by the protesters in a scene reminiscent of 2014 Occupy protests. Around 11 am, the Legislative Council Secretariat announced that the second reading debate on the extradition bill had been postponed indefinitely.
Around 3:20 pm, protesters on Tim Wa Avenue began to charge the police barricades and were doused with pepper spray in reply. Protesters also attempted to charge the Legislative Council building. Riot police dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas, beanbag rounds and rubber bullets. There was a stand-off on Harcourt Road between protesters and the police. As of 6 pm, 22 injured people had been sent to public hospitals. At around 6:20 pm, the Legislative Council Secretariat issued a circular saying Legislative Council President Andrew Leung had called off the meeting. Protesters remained in the streets outside the AIA Tower in Central, Queensway outside Pacific Place shopping mall, and at the junction of Arsenal Street and Hennessy Road in Wan Chai into the night. By the end of the day, at least 79 protesters and police officers had been treated in hospitals; around 150 tear gas canisters, "several" rounds of rubber bullets, and 20 beanbag shots had been fired during the protest clearance.