Burned by Betrayal and 87 Rounds of Tear Gas in Hong Kong
When Civil Disobedience Turned Violent, a City's Long-Held Trust in Its Police Was Broken
On Sunday, September 28, 2014, we stood among the estimated 80,000 Hong Kong protestors in the Admiralty neighborhood that hosts the government headquarters, when tear gas began raining down on us. The effects were immediate: a searing and near-paralyzing burn of our skin, eyes, nasal passages, and lungs that intensified with each attack, which totaled 87 rounds and an unknown number of canisters in nine different locations that night. Discomfort lasted for days afterward.
We are American expatriates who have lived in Hong Kong for years studying policy challenges facing transitional …
