Riots, month-long protests, and outbreaks of violence. It seems as if rampage and chaos are the only constants in Hong Kong, as the local citizens are facing violent restrictions on their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

Earlier this year, the government of Hong Kong proposed a bill that would permit the extradition of suspects from Hong Kong to mainland China. Although the bill has since been withdrawn, the violence and protests ensue.

This is likely because the bill is representative of a much deeper, underlying issue. The tense relationship between the two regions has existed since 1997, when Britain returned Hong Kong to mainland China under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle.

And ever since then, China has made several attempts to erode the autonomy of the region, ultimately returning authority to the mainland.

Article 4 of the Basic Law in post-colonial Hong Kong states that the mainland must safeguard the rights and freedoms of the residents of Hong Kong. Despite this, researchers have documented the unnecessary and excessive use of force, including the employment of tear gas, batons and other weapons used by police on the largely peaceful protesters. Moreover, the police have applied vague charges to arrest and prosecute thousands of peaceful protesters.

With these incidents occurring more and more frequently, a peaceful resolution is seeming to be less and less likely. As such, we must encourage the authorities to find a diplomatic solution sooner rather than later.