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A year ago, black-clad youth of Hong Kong gathered in front of the Parliament. Stones and missiles met with rubber bullets and Tear Gas . Many of the protests and a pandemic later, the area is with another existential challenge. Will you survive it?

In the last 12 Months , has almost worn out everyone in Hong Kong , a mask for One reason or another.

the protesters fought battles against The Police , it was a gas mask. For the peaceful protesters, it's a Black Face covering, to make a statement. For all others, it is a mask for the protection against the pandemic was sweeping the globe.

Scarred from the memories of the 2003 SARS epidemic in The City , almost every Hong Kong pulled off a mask, and somehow The City came through relatively unscathed, while the rest of The World plunged in sickness and in crisis.

Then China made an announcement.

It is planned to impose to the National Security would be right - that crime, what he called "subversion, secession, terrorism and foreign interference". The Law is currently being drafted and is expected to be approved this month.

For the many critics of the proposed Law , it is synonymous with the production of A Crime of freedom of expression, protest and dissent - and could be The End of the unique freedoms mean guaranteed to Hong Kong when it was handed over to China in 1997.

"Hong Kong has entered a new stage. After What Happened in The Past year, Hong Kong could be quite different in The Future ," Said Alice Cheung, a former student leader.

It was a year of disbelief and mental exhaustion for Ms Cheung. She couldn't imagine what would go through your home town and the many masks they must wear would be. How many in The City - on all sides of The Argument - their anxiety for The Future is real and Raw .

Beijing sees this as a necessary action against a recalcitrant city. Hong Kong was always thought to be the introduction of its own National Security could be right, but never, because the view was so unpopular to his People . Now, after a wave of spite, unleashed in response to China 's attempt to impose a new extradition Law , Beijing is a doubling.

For Ms Cheung and others like them, the proposed National Security bill strikes at The Heart of Hong Kong , the civic political identity, his success as an international hub. But most of all, it strikes at The People the sense of belonging.

Still, some local opponents of The Law say they welcome it, although it could be a disaster for Hong Kong economically. To describe this feeling, Ms Cheung uses the term "laam chau", the Canton of slang and means "mutual destruction". The theory goes, if Beijing cracks down on Hong Kong , The West sanctions against China due to cancellation of Special Treatment for Hong Kong , they can harm the economy of the PRC in the series.

The United States laid down The Gauntlet last month by threats to remove the special privileges for the Hong Kong and impose sanctions against Chinese officials, who undermine The City 's autonomy.

Once upon a time, a colonial flag-waving protesters, wanted to British interference in Hong Kong Affairs-deserved ridicule. Now, the UK has promised, if Beijing Goes Ahead with its proposed Law to give, come for a British National (Overseas) passport that was issued to the inhabitants born during the colonial period.

promises are not The effects of the UK s small. Beijing has warned that it could be retaliation for any intervention in its Internal Affairs , and Hong Kong caught in The Middle of a much larger global confrontation.

Ms Cheung was a peaceful protester, but you do not want to distance themselves themselves from the violence front liner - seed- partly because it was on the deep distrust of The Police , One of the slogans of the protesters.

she saw People like you arrested and it will change your view of who she was and what it meant belonging to The City , to her. "I have to be a little deaf," She Said . "I don't have a lot of feelings when I see The News ... I don't know if I suppress my feelings, or what. "

Nearly 9,000 People were detained, 40% of them are students. The youngest was just 11 years old. More Than 1,800 have been raised before, and about a third of them now, a fee of riots - A Crime that carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

Ms Cheung is worried what will come of this protest generation, if China adopted The Law .

If the coronavirus came, it filled her with revulsion. She grew up in Amoy Gardens, the housing complex, that was the deadly centre of the SARS outbreak in 2003. More Than 300 residents were infected.

Ms Cheung was only six at the time. "I remember how the residents had to live in Block E, to a bus, to be put under quarantine at a government warehouse," she recalls. "I remember watching On Television that The Number of infections jumped Every Day . "

Ms Cheung started wearing a face mask in early January, shortly after she for the First Time , The News of a "mysterious pneumonia heard" in Wuhan.

"It reminded me of What Happened during SARS," She Said . "It would definitely cover-ups, and I assumed that it would fare worse than what was reported. "

such As Ms Cheung, many Hong Kongers came in action soon after mainland authorities confirmed human-to-human transmission. According to a study by the University of Hong Kong , almost 75% of respondents Said they used face masks when you go outside, and over 61% Said they avoid crowded places at The End of January. The figures jumped to 99% and 85%, respectively, in mid-March.

For a moment, the pandemic, a break from the months of protest and a unifying point for The City . Hong Kong has always been proud of its can-do spirit. For many of the survivors of the pandemic a further example of what happens when People pull together.

The Authorities had taken measures, but the idea took hold among many, that it was mainly a triumph of The People .

Dr. king-wa Fu, says who teaches journalism at the University of Hong Kong , that The City government was slow to respond in the early stages of cementing The Perception that the community deserves the credit, not the government.

"Hong Kongers have the SARS experience, and that is why People who know what to do very quickly. Wear a mask, wash your hands often and keep a social distance from People . We don't really need to encourage the government to these messages," He Said .

But whether or not it gets credit, experts confirm that the government has shown technocratic skills in the management of the pandemic. Hong Kong has seen only four deaths, and no lockdown.

The Announcement of China 's proposed National Security Law , relegated the successes of The Virus , the response to a small disturbance. The Narrative of a People pulling together in a common triumph, simply evaporated.

Hong Kong 's leader, Carrie Lam Said that the proposed Law must be enacted "because national sovereignty has been undermined by "standing up for the independence and Even violence hard on terrorist activities".

Pro-faith Democrats that Beijing has been biding his time for years.

"China has always found it difficult to accept the kind of freedom and restraint, has in Hong Kong under a separate system," Said the former Deputy Margaret Ng .

"Well, you have chosen this path, from the imposition of this Law under the pretext of protests in the Last Year . It gave them an opening, but she always wanted to do it. "

There are many fears about what could mean The Law , for Hong Kong , apart from a squashing of civil liberties. The Fear that China 's own security organizations in The City is there. Margaret Ng , who is 72, Said she feared that the speech itself could be A Crime . In mid-April, she was arrested, for the First Time in her life, in addition to 14 high-profile democracy activists.

Still, tens of thousands came out to remember the fallen in the suppression of the Tiananmen Square , despite the ban.

Mr Lam no longer have to worry that it is chains of light, after the National Security act becomes effective.

Source of news: bbc.com