it it's been three years since the so-called umbrella revolution. ever since then, fewer and fewer people take part in the annual

demonstrations held on the anniversary of hong kong's return to the people's republic of china. the voices of the young have not been able to create the kind of democracy they seek. and now some even call for complete independence. hong kong became a british colony in 1842. although it was temporarily occupied by japan during the second world war. for more than 150 years, hong kong was the destination for refugees from conflicts in mainland china. and when the people's republic of china was founded in 1949, many dissatisfied with the communist party fled here.

in this episode of "asia insight", we take a look at how the people of hong kong have continued to seek democracy

after the return to a communist country and examine their vision for the future. once one of the four asian tigers, hong kong achieved rapid economic growth in the 1980s under british rule, developing into a major shouldnhub and international financial center.

people hugged each other in joy, however, in the 13 years since the return of hong kong had been decided in 1984, around 600,000 people, approximately 10% of hong kong's population, had fled the country, concerned about

living under communist rule. beijing promised to allow hong kong to keep its political and social structure and universal sufficient ran suffrage in the future.

under china's open-door policy, economically, hong kong was china's gateway to the world. that is why china maintained the principle of non-interference. however, the asian financial crisis put a strain on its

relationship with hong kong. however, hong kong's frail economy was further weakened by the sars pandemic, and travel from china was restricted to prevent the spread of the virus. from may to july 2003, hong kong's average unemployment rate hit a record high of 8.7%. at the same time, the hong kong government attempted to pass the basic law, article 23, in response to beijing's request regarding national security. deliberations progressed quickly, and article 23 was scheduled to be passed on july 9th.

after the world health organization took hong kong offer the sars pandemic list, china signed a wide-ranging free trade agreement with the hong kong government. with massive support from the chinese government, everything seemed to be going well.

however, two days after the signing ceremony, hong kong celebrated its handover anniversary. arou around 500,000 people demonstrated in the streets, demanding that article 23 be scrapped and the chief executive be ousted. this overwhelming protest forced the hong kong government to abandon article 23.

ching was the leader of hong kong's largest political party at the time and was invited to beijing.

beijing changed its stance from non-interference to a policy of economic integration. it opened up individual travel

to hong kong and allowed the custom-free export of hong kong goods. the year after the massive protest, hong kong's real gdp rate grew to 8.7%. 15 years after hong kong's return to china, the chi stabilized, and unemployment rates recovered to 3%. in line with beijing policy, the hong kong government had been preparing to implement patriotic education into primary and secondary school. teenagers who grew in in post colonial hong kong raised a protest movement. they forced the hong kong government to withdraw from the mandatory patriotic

joshua wong, then just 15 years old, formed an organization for secondary school students. travel from mainland china continued to increase yearly. at its peak, over 47 million chinese visitors flooded into hong kong, six times its population. this naturally caused many problems. one of the most serious issues

is that many mainlanders gave birth in hong kong in order to gain permanent residency. smugglers hoarded powdered milk and diapers. chinese real estate investment drove land prices up. economic prosperity landed and it became more and more difficult. noticing the brewing emotional conflicts, movie producer andrew choi started work on a film.

in march, 2013, an associate professor of law at the university of hong kong called on citizens to occupy central, hong kong's financial district.

reason he wanted to take action is because sufficierage was becg a reality. they wanted to affect voting. however, the reality was beijing intended to vet political candidates beforehand. occupy central, in 2014, on october 1st, the people's republic of china's national day. many secondary school children participated. joshua wong was the leader.

the occupation of central was in five days' time. the tension was high. both pro-democracy and pro-chinese supporters began to gather together.

students begin to climb over the railings of the civic square in front of the central hong kong government office. they pour into the prohibited square. the actions of one person have caused a ripple effect.

students occupy the streets all night long. upon hearing about the incident, tai arrives only to be greeted with booing. this provokes the students. tai had not envisioned this outpouring of emotion when he made his original plan to occupy central.

the so-called umbrella revolution attracted citizens, regardless of political beliefs, to the scene. but, in the end, nothing was achieved. and the raised fists of the students became self-inflicted wounds.

the year after the umbrella revolution, the film produced by choi was released. it is an omnibus by five directors, depicting hong kong ten years from now.

after an initial release in a single theater, the movie's reputation spread by word of mouth. it went on to be shown in schools, community centers and in front of stations. every person has their own view

on the last 20 years since hong kong's return to china. living within a one-country/two system country how do they see their future?

on the 20th anniversary of hong kong's return to chinese sovereignty, head of state, xi jinping, made an official visit. security was at the highest level.

h hong kong's youth is rising up for the right to choose the future for themselves. although their freedom is limited, their struggle will continue.

steves: the dramatic rock of cashel is one of ireland's most evocative sites.

this was the seat of ancient irish kings for seven centuries. st. patrick baptized king aengus here in about 450 a.d. in around 1100, an irish king gave cashel to the church, and it grew to become the ecclesiastical capital of all ireland. 800 years ago, this monastic community was just a chapel and a round tower standing high on this bluff. it looked out then, as it does today, over the plain of tipperary, called the golden vale because its rich soil makes it ireland's best farmland. on this historic rock, you stroll among these ruins in the footsteps of st. patrick, and wandering through my favorite celtic cross graveyard, i feel the soul of ireland.

hello there, welcome to nhk "newsline." it's 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the world continues to grapple with the thought of north korea's growing power two days after the country went further than ever before by sending a ballistic missile over japan. there's a lot of diplomatic work going on and japan's u.n. ambassador said he'll speak with american officials about additional sanctions. he said they may include an embargo. men ments. >> we'd like to discuss it with the united states and get any new ideas. >>