
Hong Kongers have spent the past 10 weeks protesting to protect their liberty and legal autonomy from Chinese encroachment. “We’re not optimistic, but we don’t calculate,” Nathan Law, one of the territory’s best-known activists, told me at the start of it. “We just do what we think is right. And if we don’t do this, we’ll regret it.” Noting that so far no one has been killed protesting, Mr. Law remarks this week: “I always think we are so lucky.”
I first met Mr. Law, 26, in June, during the first week of Hong Kong’s protests. He scarfed down a cinnamon danish at a Starbucks in the Sheung Wan district. With his glasses, lightly wrinkled T-shirt and backpack, he had the sleep-deprived demeanor of a student during finals week. His youth belies his deep political experience.