HK protests divide families

For weeks, Jane lied to her mother about joining Hong Kong’s protests -- pretending her rucksack was bulging with books, not supplies -- until the ideological rift between them grew so great she had to move out.

With millions marching to protest stuttering freedoms under Beijing’s rule over the last 100 days, Jane found herself increasingly arguing with her mother who was bitterly opposed to the pro-democracy movement.

Eventually, she had to leave her mother’s flat.

It was a huge emotional blow. Jane was raised solely by her mother.

Jane said she tried to explain the movement’s goals of a more democratic Hong Kong but her arguments fell on deaf ears with her mother.

“She believes what China says, she believes the protesters are paid by foreigners, that all protesters are thugs,” Jane lamented. “She never believes me.”

The three months of huge, sometimes violent protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese city are overwhelmingly youth-led. Younger protesters say they often find themselves at ideological odds with parents or older relatives.

“At the beginning, we would eat in silence. It was so depressing that now I don’t go home until I know my parents are in bed,” said Chris who graduated recently and started a job at a top bank.

“I think it comes down to education. My parents were educated in China and weren’t taught about democracy and freedom,” he said, explaining how his parents came to Hong Kong in the 1990s as stowaways looking for a better quality of life.

“What my parents want is stability and economic well-being. But I want more than that and I will fight for it,” said Chris, describing how his normally-settled home life has spun into an “us versus them” conflict.