Читать книгу Rebel City - South China Morning Post Team - Страница 8

I am proud of this book and yet humbled by it. It is a chronicle of the greatest social and political upheaval that Hong Kong has undergone in our times, a non-partisan account of the events of 2019 encapsulating the blood, sweat and tears of a world city at a crossroads.

It’s also a fact-based attempt to explain all the contradictions, nuances and complexities of the story of the anti-government protest movement that was triggered by the ill-fated extradition bill, and continues to impact this city and the lives of its 7.4 million people.

And it’s a labor of love by a team of outstanding journalists at the South China Morning Post, supported by a wider network of dedicated colleagues, who deserve a separate book someday to tell the story of their passion for the job and their professionalism against formidable odds.

I am talking about the grueling hours, the relentless pressure, and the immense personal risks at the front lines of often-violent protests, all to tell the story of their times.

Reporters, photographers, videographers and artists, along with editors, made many sacrifices, regularly working marathon hours and toiling late into the night for weeks on end, to cover the chaos sweeping the city, all too often at great risk to their own safety and health.

The physical and emotional stress on the people who produced the articles collected in this book has been tremendous.

At the worst moments, some have been tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed and hit with projectiles during chaotic confrontations between police and protesters, while others have been intimidated and threatened for doing their job.

And it wasn’t only our journalists – take, for instance, one of our key administrative staff members having her car petrol-bombed while on her way to work.

But we stayed the course, kept calm and remained focused, doing what it took to tell the world the real story of what happened to our city, warts and all, without taking sides, and without fear or favor.

Our coverage has been as comprehensive as it has been objective and professional throughout. It has sifted through sharply conflicting narratives and bitterly divided opinions to bring out every shade of color in between the ubiquitous blue and yellow that lit up much of what was dubbed “the revolution of our times” by activists but condemned as “rioting” and “illegal” behavior by both the local and central governments.

This book brings out the grave implications all this will have on Hong Kong’s relations with mainland China, which have been thrown into extreme uncertainty by the social unrest and political chaos. It digs deep into the many cross-border problems that were swept under the carpet for more than two decades after the city’s handover to Chinese sovereignty, festering and eventually snowballing into a crisis that made global headlines.

Consider this book but a sampling of some of the best work that the award-winning journalists of the South China Morning Post have been putting out and continue to produce.

We present it to you, dear readers, with pride and humility.

Tammy Tam,

Editor-in-Chief, South China Morning Post