clear with you but i have to act in ways that i feel necessary to people who simply understand that. if you let your 7 year old which do the ends justify the means. to tonight's witnesses starts december 13th on t.w. . but these time there was a book and and there's no one can predict what happened. for months hong kong citizens have been demonstrating more and more of a sypher asli against china's increasing restriction of their freedom ah. ah i thought out the protests have no official leader are organized only through

social media and are both surprising and creative artists are playing a major role. tourism has plummeted and the economy is suffering huge losses. but during the work week most things take their usual capitalist course in this international finance center . hong kong streets tell a different story on sundays. hundreds of thousands of hong kong citizens are turning out in mass displays of civil disobedience.

at the beginning of this wave of protest in early june the masses were demanding the withdrawal of an extradition bill which would have allowed hong kong to deport criminal suspects to china the. law by. the outrage over the proposal took lawmakers completely by surprise. kong's pro chinese chief executive carrie lamb seen here at her inauguration 2 years ago in beijing underestimated the extent of the citizens anger for far too long for her. the people's wrath grew ever more threatening with each confrontation between activists and the police. and. the angry citizens of hong kong feared that the law would expose them to china's

arbitrary legal system. as carrie lamb retracted the controversial bill at 1st reluctantly but then more resolutely she had long lost control of the situation. carlos and often this is going to withdraw the bill from the protests because a lot of people have said that the focus off the protests for the shift from the bill to the police has been doing in hong kong and a lot of people are not happy with what the police has been doing. tony chung is a reporter at the south china morning post his specialization is relations between hong kong and china. first carol i'm wolf seem to to be a person could really mend trust and relationship but it ended up no was to protest and it seems the problem has not been solved and just

a few works and. what considerably worse in the situation happened right here on august 31st at the prince edward underground station. the site has now become a pilgrimage for victims of police brutality. after a demonstration police followed several activists into the underground train and there were scenes on the trains that utterly shocked the peaceful people of hong kong i i. i i. artists and illustrators took images of young people bleeding and put them online but they spread like wildfire as did the videos of police brutality. it triggered a chain of reactions activists started occupying the underground stations bringing

public transport to a standstill. i militant activists have since declared the underground. train system as an enemy concept. stations have been destroyed all over hong kong. before the sunday demonstrations workers try to say what can be saved. regina is an advisor to hong kong's chief executive. she's a powerful woman in hong kong and a personification of the enemy in the democracy camp after 3 months of protests no it looks like to us that's the number of peaceful demonstrators instantly but the hot cocoa to this violence is escalating and they are throwing

a lot of petrol bombs you know so that is worrying. there's no question that some parts of the movement are becoming more radical. nor that the police are also using excessive violence. the trust between the government and the people has reached of very low point who has always been the case in recent years that's a lot of people find it hard to trust the government completely. hardly anyone is talking about the extradition bill now. now the movement is demanding an investigation into police brutality as well as amnesty for activists who've been arrested releasing protesters from their criminal status as rioters and most of all free elections overnight the slogan 5 demands none less was created it's become one of the battle cries of the movement but it's chiefly the call for

free elections which goes too far for the beijing friendly government. the protests they are still a blocking all or nothing approach you know all 5 months you know must be met the government would formally announce it with all of the filth on for september you know and we have since an independent oversight on police law enforcement by bringing in international experts when you take an adult strain. that's as far as we can go. both sides are now facing each other stuck in a kind of hostile trench warfare the question is who can hold out the longest was china has been hoping that the protest would eventually lose momentum. the challenge for the activists is to keep up civil disobedience and keep the mass demonstrations going. this is where the creative types come in.

samson and long as an artist and is seen as one of the most creative minds of hong kong's cultural scene. every sunday he meets with friends to go on a demonstration. the large sunday demos were legally permitted by the police until the end of september. now they're illegal but the protesters still go i think moses says what is the volume intended on multiple because. in a peaceful protest. yes all the legal for this we have a 1000000 of people come out but if it is to play illegal a lot of people relate to it being a b. c. you know all fluffy and false and. however this tactic hasn't worked spite of the band samson and hundreds of thousands of others still go out and demonstrate their fears for the future are greater hong kong citizens have many democratic rights.

we don't need anyone's permission to exercise our right to exercise all freedom of speech. that is very clear the people of hong kong knows that it is written in our constitution in a basic law that we huff this basic freedom. the democracy movement fears that hong kong's illegally guaranteed independence could be eroded and complains about beijing's growing influence many people here fear it is just a matter of time. samson wong visualize this fear in a guerrilla art campaign projecting a countdown on to hong kong's highest building. and

it counts down the time until hong kong is finally returned to china and 2047 a provocation. by. the young freedom loving hong kong people it's about their future and nothing less. perhaps that explains their unwillingness to compromise i know my reasoning we mean the 5 miles but we all know that this is. this is one step. it is scientific otoh practically. everyone just. having all call me a parade just because. sampson wong who is also a junior art professor believes in the power of images. to sing about how the role

of a major. michaud other to your creativity and then move on i think it is rare situation where and crowd creativity to become very important by crowd creativity i mean everyone created to get up trying to make their movement stronger soul in this on just about poles to us it's not just the ball popsicle it. is the ball more ball to sustain the energy of the of the movement. it's more about actions like. where people create a song called glory to home call. the story of this song illustrates what wall means it all began with the melody on the

internet. at some point an unknown person wrote a narration and people started gathering spontaneously to sing their new anthem. then a few professionals produced this music video which was also put online anonymously . in no time at all glory to hong kong became the battle anthem of the protest movement. it is sung at demonstrations whistled in underground stations and a flash mob congregates almost daily somewhere to sing it as a collective protest it's not really about the morality of the music all day in the regs is about how crude to use the whole action all people occupied there was

helping mall is saying this all and i think it's kind of create things that they all factions most important to them but it's about how people and. sustained attention to them will also sustain the motivation to come all week by week. the crowd finds out about organization of the various actions on social media active hong kong citizens follow dozens of internal unclosed groups and decide which action to participate in depending on where they are. proud intelligence is guided by a quote by action hero bruce lee a hong kong icon. his maxim be formless shapeless like water has become the narrative thread of the democracy movement.

the protesters flow through the city streets like water with no leadership unpredictable surprising and nearly always before the police can react. i approach in a faction is deploying the same strategy day to organize flash mobs here with slogans supporting hong kong's police sometimes singing the chinese national anthem . actual singing battles often take place like in the shopping mall where democracy activists singing glory to hong kong on the top floor drown out the chinese patriots. who see people now singing. the to f.m.

in who in it's the shopping mall i was just. before full i mean so i think that is the future of hong kong. just in one is a famous local hong kong illustrated political cartoonist art professor. has a comic column in a much read newspaper. and he thinks that art can do much more than criticize china it touches people's hearts. i think his hope period of time a lot of people in hong kong. really sat and you know. depressed frustrated. reading negative emotion and a lot of works there surely not. about propaganda not about

mobilizing action but about healings. not just in one has started archiving all the drawings posters and images of the pro-democracy movement he already has thousands. and they have a large influence on the movement. the cartoonists the player rolled to. establish some icons for example of the yellow ring coach it appeared when the 1st protester who saw the sign. the young man in the yellow raincoat climbed some scaffolding to stick up a protest poster in mid june. he remained up on the scaffolding for several hours before jumping down to his death. he is seen to be the 1st of the protests.

illustrators made the raincoat a symbol for the protest. the young man as a sacrificial icon for the movement. and then some icons different icons. he can't and merge like. the the the girl with the shot. was the young woman hidden here behind umbrella's by her friends was at a demonstration when she was hit in the face by a tear gas bullet. and so that's i think that one is more in impact because when i see that i over sees people who want to show support the whole country which has come for us. very often the cartoonists works find their

way from the digital into the real world onto the so-called lennon walls. these public pinboard storeyed their name from a wall of graffiti which sprung up in prague after the murder of john lennon. back then as today the icon of young protest movements. nobody knows exactly how many of these walls there are currently in the city. some say dozens others say hundreds. everyone can express their opinion here congratulations a message or tips on how to protect yourself from tear gas. rig. when the 1st lennon wall appeared in hong kong and 2014 the police were soon on site. today

these penn boards of protests are popping up all over the city so fast that the police can barely keep up. now we don't have a specific location because all of the events happened here and there so like even there are something like in the lebanon war in different districts. this is just that ok even the lenin was destroyed by other people people who put that up there and there's no centralized location so so all the work through and marriage here and there and here and there there's no limitation for the time frame or the physical space so i think it is not just the bow. freedom of expression this is it is also about how communities come together to create political space to reclaim the city so we always think that hong kong people

law. apolitical before this move on a lot of them are not really. assembling to do anything but i think the walls are reflecting. enough. create political space in the coming days she's all next system before this. water tank why so many people are now claiming this space there are smaller actions almost every day in hong kong. schoolchildren are occupying a space here in the financial district with a spontaneous sit in. school children are among the most active of the protesters. more than. a few streets ahead a further demonstration is taking place this time it's legal with a permit from the british general consulate. the inhabitants of the former crown colony are asking the former colonialists for help. unusual times call for unusual

means. many of the peaceful protesters have the feeling that something special is happening in their city and they want to be part of it. young yang art critic and curator has come across this demonstration rather by chance. she's taking part in the protests but only if they are violence free as an effort citizen on the street like for me. i could feel the texture and temperature of the city becoming gradually different like for instance people carrying you could suddenly going to a conversation with a stranger about you know what's happening you know what led the protests what do you think of it i was says in this kind of conversation yesterday you know hong kong chinese people so we looked in the context frankly on the street people say

hello they would just. the way. i think that i see that kind of change is not just from the human chain but throughout the protests we see a lot of violence fighting scene but be high you see a lot of. the unity among them they don't know each other but the support they show to each other is just unbelievable. how many people are behind the protest no one can really answer this question. among the $7000000.00 plus inhabitants of hong kong around $1200000.00 are mainland chinese who have moved to the island. their number is growing by a good 50000 a year. and just like everywhere else in the world the polarization between the 2

opposing camps is increasing. and not being optimistic about you know the whole city being united but what is positive is i think that come that's coming out of this is all these had been undercurrents and now it's all opened up and we it's out tries to deal with it or not deal with it so divisions could become in the trees and then unities could divide again but this is what life is about. i. there are many signs that the protests have led to an ever increasing division of society which can be seen recurring on the edges of the demonstrations. this man in the czech shirt clearly a follower of the government was very vociferous in his criticism of the protests on the street. after a few minutes of his hefty tirades these scenes follow. it was

her thanks to the brave intervention of a few people breaking up the fight was the man is not seriously injured was in the latest stage of the movement you know there's a more direct fighting if the police and a lot of young start they are going like they're wearing like food here with the hand that and then mas' and and a lot of worse if they start to patrick then as i like a fighter. i think this kind of work is important that they try to good night after one to canada and there they try to put track than portrayed them as the hero of thing. so that i think it's also to give

them the energy and the supports to those people in the front line of the was on october 1st the 70th birthday of china the situation escalated a new law for the 1st time the police shot live ammunition at militant activist was the shots triggered a new wave of people and student protests everywhere in the city. at this point over 2000 activists have been arrested was beijing has said very little about the unrest in its special administration region was the question of whether china will decide to send in the army has been on everyone's lips for weeks now was this in the face. blore

the chief executive could seek to deploy the the army in case of. public safety you know but this i don't think she will want to because even though legal is permissible practically we might need some help you know. post section why you know it will be seen as the death of one country 2 systems. what will happen next and how do artists see their role in the coming weeks i want to make change i want to change people's minds. for some because. i want my work. and let them understand what we are thinking. i think some people are counting on the world support i don't believe in that i think it's more . our whole structure those are the same many countries actually.

border to make china. who knows if democracy would come and maybe democracy in hong kong depends on democracy in china what we're doing here is to act as if it is possible this kind of make believe which children aren't there that they just pick up something from the beach the sack and then they make a castle because they know it's not a person but they make it to be a cause you know dream house and we are doing that. stories

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speech of his life perhaps his best certainly his most difficult. the speech by calling dressed him on december 19th 1989. shortly after the fall of the of the chancellor addresses the people of east germany. the middest tense the crowd clamors for a german unity journalist peter lim borg was at the scene. 30 years later he looks back on the time interest and starts december 19th d w. the

be. the best . this is deja news coming to you live from berlin nato leaders gather in london to mark the military alliances 70th anniversary president donald trump declares that the u.s. benefits least of all from the alliance it's not feeling he points of contention at the meetings weighed down by division. coming out dried out resume wasn't parched land grab the experts tell the climate summit in madrid that the last decade has seen the being the hottest on record look at what this means for.