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Umbrella Movement Anniversary: 40 Powerful Photos of Pro-Democracy Protests that Shook Hong Kong

Umbrella Movement Anniversary: 40 Powerful Photos of Pro-Democracy Protests that Shook Hong Kong
Tue, 9/29/2015 - by David Sim
This article originally appeared on International Business Times

One year ago, Hong Kong's streets were shut down by pro-democracy activists who occupied them for 79 days in what became known as the "Umbrella Movement." The protests were led by students and other activists who took to the streets to voice their opposition to Beijing's plan to restrict elections for the leader of the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

The protest was kicked off by students, led by Joshua Wong, who stormed into the government headquarters compound on 26 September. They were promptly arrested by the police. Two days later tens of thousands of supporters flooded onto a major highway in Hong Kong, blocking traffic, and stayed there despite police firing 87 rounds of tear gas in one day.

While largely peaceful, the size and duration of the protests – and the fact that they took place in full view of international media, who filmed the activists using umbrellas to defend themselves against police tear gas, pepper spray and batons – raised a serious challenge to China's Communist Party. The movement fizzled out as the government stuck to a hard line and authorities eventually cleared out all three protest camps.

As the Los Angeles Times reports:

"Much as the protests transfixed the world, they yielded no concessions from the local government in this semi-autonomous Chinese territory, or from Communist Party rulers in Beijing. Many of those who participated fell into a deep despondency; Wong himself called the mass movement 'a failure' that has plunged many a participant into 'an abyss of helplessness."

"He was in the crowd Monday evening as nearly 10,000 pro-democracy supporters regrouped in central Hong Kong to mark the one-year anniversary, many unfurling yellow umbrellas and chanting: 'Hong Kong won’t be the same again. Democracy defies gas bombs.'"

Here's a look back at 2014's Hong Kong Umbrella Movement pro-democracy protests in 40 powerful photos.

Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
28 September 2014: Police officers stand in front of pro-democracy protesters during a demonstration in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
28 September 2014: A pro-democracy protester confronts the police during a demonstration in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
28 September 2014: A riot policeman uses pepper spray during clashes with protesters outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
28 September 2014: A protester holds on to a fence as riot policemen fire tear gas to disperse protesters blocking the road leading to the financial district in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
28 September 2014: Police fire tear gas on pro-democracy demonstrators near the Hong Kong government headquarters
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
29 September 2014: Riot police fire tear gas to disperse protesters outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
28 September 2014: A pro-democracy demonstrator gestures after police fired tear gas towards protesters near the Hong Kong government headquarters
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
29 September 2014: Protesters hold their mobile phones up as they block the main street to the financial district in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
30 September 2014: Protesters take cover from the rain under umbrellas outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
30 September 2014: Protesters are reflected in a puddle as they block an area near the government headquarters
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
1 October 2014: Joshua Wong, leader of the student movement, delivers a speech outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
2 October 2014: A woman looks at notes left by pro-democracy protesters on a footbridge in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
3 October 2014: A pro-democracy protester working as medical volunteer sleeps in a makeshift supply area on a flyover in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
3 October 2014: A man is held back by police as he screams at pro-democracy protesters to stop occupying an area of the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
4 October 2014: Anti-Occupy Central protesters try to remove a barricade on a main street in Hong Kong's Mongkok shopping district
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
5 October 2014: Yau, 22, gets down on one knees to propose to his girlfriend Chen, 21, on a street in the Mongkok shopping district in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
5 October 2014: A sculpture named Umbrella Man, by the Hong Kong artist known as Milk, is set up at a pro-democracy protest site next to the central government offices
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
9 October 2014: Anti-government protesters play table tennis on a main road in the Mongkok shopping district
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
11 October 2014: An art installation made with umbrellas is seen in a commercial area of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
13 October 2014: Pro-democracy protesters use bamboo to strengthen a barricade blocking a major road in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
14 October 2014: Police officers stand guard to create a cordon on a street outside the Hong Kong government complex
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
14 October 2014: Police remove a barricade at a protest site in Admiralty near the government headquarters in Hong Kong
hong Kong umbrella
14 October 2014: Policemen remove a barricade made from bamboo left by pro-democracy protesters on a main road leading to the financial Central district in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
14 October 2014: Police officers carry a sign that calls for "Genuine Universal Suffrage in HK" as they dismantle a pro-democracy protest barricade in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
15 October 2014: A pro-democracy protester reacts after being pepper-sprayed in the face in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
16 October 2014: Police use pepper spray as they clash with pro-democracy protesters at an area near the government headquarters building in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
17 October 2014: Pro-democracy demonstrators face police during a standoff amid ongoing protests in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
17 October 2014: Pro-democracy protesters and bystanders gather around a police line in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
17 October 2014: Police charge towards pro-democracy protesters during clashes in the Mongkok district
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
17 October 2014: A local Hong Kong journalist collapses in agony after being hit in the face with pepper spray in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
24 October 2014: A pro-democracy supporter dressed as Spider-Man inspects a fellow protester after he was hit by an object in the Mongkok shopping district
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
28 October 2014: Umbrellas are opened as tens of thousands of people come to the main protest site one month after the Hong Kong police first used tear gas to disperse protesters
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
12 November 2014: A carboard cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping holding a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the movement, is seen at a protest site in the Admiralty district
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
14 November 2014: A couple kiss as they stand near a wall with messages left by protesters as they pose for a wedding photographer at the Admiralty pro-democracy protest site
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
24 November 2014: A man looks at a painting at a protest site in the Admiralty district, depicting riot police using pepper spray against pro-democracy protesters
hong Kong umbrella
25 November 2014: A police officer gestures as he stands on a barricade during the clearance of a major protest site in the Mongkok district
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
25 November 2014: Police use pepper spray as they clear a road at a pro-democracy protest site in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong
hong Kong umbrella
25 November 2014: Police officers use pepper spray as they clash with pro-democracy protesters outside Hong Kong's government complex
hong Kong umbrella
26 November 2014: Pro-democracy protesters walk away with their belongings after packing up and leaving the protest site
Hong Kong Umbrella democracy protests
26 November 2014: Workers spray a road, previously occupied by pro-democracy protesters, after police completed their clearance of a major protest site in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong

Originally published by International Business Times

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