Among the Braves: Hope, Struggle and Exile in the Battle for Hong Kong and the Future of Global Democracy

Through the eyes of two frontline journalists comes a gripping narrative history of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement centred around a cast of core activists, culminating in the 2019 mass protests and Beijing’s brutal crackdown.

Shibani Mahtani (Washington Post) and Timothy McLaughlin (The Atlantic) will talk about their book 'Among the Braves: Hope, Struggle and Exile in the Battle for Hong Kong and the Future of Global Democracy'.

Hong Kong was an experiment in governance. Handed back to China in 1997 after 156 years of British rule, it was meant to be a carve-out between hostile systems: a bridge between communism and capitalism, authoritarianism and liberal democracy. ‘One country, two systems’ kept its media free, its courts independent and its protests boisterous, designed also to convince Taiwan of a peaceful solution to Beijing’s desire for reunification.

Yet this formulation excluded Hong Kong’s own people, their future negotiated by political titans in faraway capitals. In 2019, an ill-conceived law spear-headed by a sycophantic leader pushed millions to take to the streets in one of the most enduring protest movements the world has ever seen.

Xi Jinping responded with a draconian national security law that sought not only to end the demonstrations but quash the ‘problem’ of Hong Kongers’ identity and desire for freedom. Journalists Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin tell this story of Hong Kong through four ‘braves’ who encapsulate the spirit of its pro-democracy movement, focusing on people currently in exile, considering the risk for those still in the city, and on those who want their voices preserved even if that means trading their freedom.

Recording

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About the speakers

Shibani Mahtani is an international investigative correspondent for the Washington Post. She was previously the Post's Hong Kong and Southeast Asia bureau chief and a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal based in Singapore, Yangon, and Chicago. Her Hong Kong coverage was honoured with prizes including a Human Rights Press Award for an investigation into police misconduct. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Timothy McLaughlin is a prize-winning contributing writer for The Atlantic. Previously he worked for Reuters news agency. His work has also appeared in publications including WIRED, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Prospect. He has won multiple awards for his Hong Kong coverage, including two Best in Business Awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing, and is a two-time finalist for The Livingston Award for International Reporting. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Mahtani and McLaughlin live in Singapore.

Chair: Professor Steve Tsang, Director, SOAS China Institute

Registration

This webinar will take place online via Zoom.

The book can be purchased via the Waterstones website.

Organiser

• SOAS China Institute

Contact

• Email: sci@soas.ac.uk