Hong Kong left deeply polarised by protests: Analysts

A pro-democracy occupation that paralysed Hong Kong for two months has left the city deeply divided both politically and socially, analysts said. While the pro-democracy movement has seen the political awakening of the city’s younger generation, it has also inflamed the pro-government camp, Michael DeGolyer of Hong Kong Baptist University said. “The vociferous, extreme passion of the opponents has clearly been sparked,” he said. Opponents of the movement held their own rallies throughout the protests and voiced fears over the threat to Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity. Sonny Lo, an analyst at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, said that society has been deeply divided among families, between friends, between political parties, so the movement has had a destabilising impact.

With the deeper penetration of the mainland Chinese political influence on Hong Kong, these social tensions will continue.

Sonny Lo, an analyst at the Hong Kong Institute of Education

The split extends beyond politics and into the fabric of society, said Sonny Lo, an analyst at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. “Society has been deeply divided among families, between friends, between political parties, so the movement has had a destabilising impact,” he told AFP. With protesters vowing to fight on, analysts predict future confrontations in the face of Beijing’s increasing influence on the semi-autonomous city. “With the deeper penetration of the mainland Chinese political influence on Hong Kong, these social tensions will continue,” says Lo.

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