Daniel Lee (38) has managed an independent bookstore in Hong Kong since he was in his mid twenties. Then his colleagues started disappearing.
– Free Hong Kong, Free Hong Kong, Lee shouts.
Hong Kong's busiest shopping district is being filled by young people with knee pads, face masks, black pants and jackets. In their belt they have gas masks in case of tear gas. They hold umbrellas to protect themselves from surveillance cameras and face recognition. In the midst of the growing crowd, bookstore manager Daniel Lee walks with a poster with Chinese flag is shaped into a crosshair.
Lee is only 38 years old, but here among the hordes of teenagers and students, he is already a senior. Some of the masked youths suddenly run out of the demonstration to write anti-Chinese slogans on a subway entry. Others break up pieces of construction, tear down fences or break traffic lights. The stores around us are pulling down the grids. The malls are closing. Soon, police will barricade the streets, use water cannons at protesters and shoot tear gas. The youngsters will respond with molotov cocktails and bricks. Since the first demonstration on June 9, 2019, this has become a regular weekend activity in Hong Kong.
– I've been to almost all the demonstrations since June 9, Daniel Lee states.
Then it was a protest against a new extradition agreement with prisoners with China, which the bookseller felt directly threatened by. Daniel Lee sells political books, and was afraid it could be dangerous to be in the freedom of speech industry when Hong Kong can send political prisoners to the People's Republic of
– We would never stand at the front line, but now the front line has come to the bookstores, Daniel Lee, states.
The full story written by Per Christian Selmer-Anderssen is out in Dagbladet Magasinet.
