We haven’t heard much about Hong Kong recently. Things tend to slow down in the winter—it’s colder, and people want to spend time with family and friends during the holidays, though small protests continued. Sadly, since the middle of January, the Covid-19 virus has overwhelmed much of the world. It turns out that Hong Kong wasn’t as badly hit as some other nations. A combination of lessons learned from SARS, a five-day strike by nurses demanding that Hong Kong close its borders, the immediate and universal use of masks (commonly used anyway for any illness), the extra care for the elderly, and isolation and quarantines, means that there have been only 1,066 confirmed cases and four deaths.

But that doesn’t mean that everything has gone swimmingly. Things have been bubbling just below the surface, because the basic issue remains. Beijing wants to take over Hong Kong, and the Hong Kongers want to remain one country TWO systems. Several weeks ago, 15 of the democracy leaders, including Jimmy Lai, a refugee from the mainland who became a multi-million dollar owner of the Apple Daily newspaper and champion of freedom, were rounded up, thrown into prison and are awaiting trial for sedition. The protests grew.

Then came a brawl—yes, a for-real brawl—in the Hong Kong legislature. A group tried to pass a law that would make it a crime to say anything disrespectful about the Chinese national anthem. The Hong Kongers responded with significant protests at China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong.

Right now, the National People’s Congress (NPC), all 3,000 of them, is having its annual meetings in Beijing. On May 22, they began to discuss national security laws which, if passed, will make it a crime for Hong Kong to try to break away from Beijing, to subvert the PRC (People’s Republic of China), and to conduct terrorist actions against China. The drafts currently remain in committee. No one in Hong Kong has seen even pieces of them. That only makes everyone even more concerned. Hong Kongers fully expect Beijing will try to grab more power. They know that Beijing wants to end the treaty of 1997 and now have “one country, ONE system” ASAP.

Over the weekend of May 22, protesters using numerous message apps and social media, even graffiti at a subway station, began to organize. Thousands of protestors showed up at Causeway Bay Mall, despite the fact that they had not received any permits. Many of them feel that they have nothing to lose—if the laws go through they will be under Beijing’s rule.They marched, bellowing “Liberate Hong Kong,” and “Hong Kong Independence, the only way out!” Within an hour, police arrive with water cannon and tear gas. 120 were arrested but the protest went on for hours. Hong Kongers are expecting more to come and are planning additional protests toward the end of May—this is quickly turning into an insurgence.

China has played the long game for centuries. It has wanted to take Hong Kong since 1948 and the birth of the People’s Republic of China. It took fifty years to sign the 1997 treaty with Great Britain, and then began gradually turning the screw to bring Hong Kong closer and closer to Beijing. But Beijing is still seething from the riots last year. With so much of the world focusing on the pandemic, now may be the perfect time for the PRC to make a serious power grab—but the Hong Kongers won’t give up with out a fight.