Timeline: A growing unease in Hong Kong about the future
A series of steps by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments in recent years have prompted a growing uneasiness among Hong Kong residents about their future, a concern that burst out in a protest by hundreds of thousands of people.
Many in the semiautonomous Chinese territory worry the freedoms they enjoy under a "one-country, two-systems" framework are being chipped away at, as both governments use carrots and sticks to draw Hong Kong closer to China's orbit.
The former British colony was returned to China in 1997 under the framework, which guarantees it the right to retain its own social, legal and political systems for 50 years.
A look at events:
September-December 2014
Protesters seeking direct elections for Hong Kong's leader lay siege to government headquarters for 79 days but fail to win any concessions.
The movement inspires a new generation of political activists but also builds cynicism about the power of popular movements to effect political change.
October 2015
Four people connected with a Hong Kong publisher and bookshop that published books banned in China go missing.
A fifth person disappears in December. Chinese authorities later say they were detained for investigations into criminal activity. The case raises questions about freedom of expression in Hong Kong.
July 2017
Carrie Lam becomes Hong Kong's chief executive, or leader.
January 2018
Gui Minhai, one of the booksellers who disappeared in 2015, is arrested on a train in China while traveling with two Swedish diplomats.
Gui, a Swedish citizen, had been released in October 2017.
Freed Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee stands next to a placard with picture of missing bookseller Gui Minhai, in front of his book store in Hong Kong, June 18, 2016, as the protesters are marching to the Chinese central government's liaison office. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
September 2018
A high-speed rail link opens between Hong Kong and mainland China.
Passengers clear Chinese immigration inside the station in Hong Kong, prompting protests from some opposition lawmakers that Chinese law would apply in the immigration area.
October 2018
China opens a 55-kilometer (34-mile) -long bridge linking Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland. Xi presides over a ceremony to open the link.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridgeis seen during the first day operation of the world's longest cross-sea project, which has a total length of 55 kilometers (34 miles), in Macau, Oct. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
February 2019
China announces plans to create a Greater Bay Area encompassing Hong Kong, Macau and neighboring Guandong province in the mainland to foster economic development.
The move is seen as an effort to deepen ties among Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland.
April 2019
Lam's government introduces amendments to Hong Kong's extradition laws that would allow criminal suspects to be extradited to China.
Opponents say the changes would damage the territory's legal independence and suspects would not be guaranteed fair trials.
A Hong Kong court convicts nine leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations known as the "Umbrella Movement." Hong Kong judges were reportedly under pressure from China to hand down heavy sentences to deter future protests.
June 2019
Hundreds of thousands march through central Hong Kong to protest the proposed changes to the extradition laws.
Demonstrators raise their hands near the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, June 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
