What exactly happened in Hong Kong in 2019?

Four years on, there are still two versions of the “truth” to be found in the public domain. One is prevalent in the Western media which remains awash with narratives about how Hong Kong had witnessed a battle of “democracy against totalitarianism”. The other is embedded in the personal experiences of more than seven million Hong Kong residents who remember the violence, destruction and chaos on the city’s streets and the polarization in society. Which one of these two versions is the truthful account?

In the dozens of books on the 2019 Hong Kong riots, written in English, German and French over the past four years, there has been little by way of objective documentation. Instead, most of them are focused on ideological issues, leading to more or less the same conclusion: The 2019 unrest in Hong Kong was a story of valiant anti-government protesters rebelling against a brutal crackdown. However, such a story is far from the truth.

The purpose of this book, to be published in December 2023, is to uncover the truth about what exactly happened in Hong Kong in 2019. The idea is to draw public attention to the events of 2019 and inspire readers to reflect on them.

From Publisher:

The demonstrations, violent protests and riots that engulfed Hong Kong in 2019 shocked Hong Kong and the world and were reported by some governments, media and publishers using a one-sided interpretation of events. The police were accused of being the aggressors and even of killing protestors when photos and videos showed just the opposite, and no protestors lost their lives.

The people of Hong Kong were said to be against the action of the government and the police, when in fact, millions supported the government’s legislative proposals and police measures to enforce the law and bring peace to the streets.

This book reveals the truth behind the violence on Hong Kong streets through ample photographic evidence – vicious attacks on frontline police officers; extreme vandalism of businesses, shopping malls, universities, ATMs, the MTR and transport infrastructure; the blockage of roads, trains, tunnels and the airport to inflict maximum damage on the people and the economy; the burning and beating of people for no reason; and Molotov cocktails and bricks thrown at police and ordinary citizens.

This book reveals the truth behind this traumatic period of recent Hong Kong history.